Hubbard v. Board of Education

882 P.2d 483, 19 Kan. App. 2d 853, 1994 Kan. App. LEXIS 107
CourtCourt of Appeals of Kansas
DecidedJune 24, 1994
DocketNo. 70,472
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 882 P.2d 483 (Hubbard v. Board of Education) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Kansas primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Hubbard v. Board of Education, 882 P.2d 483, 19 Kan. App. 2d 853, 1994 Kan. App. LEXIS 107 (kanctapp 1994).

Opinion

Pierron, J.;

Robert Hubbard, plain tiff-appellant, appeals the district court decision granting summary judgment for defendants [854]*854on all claims. Hubbard argues the court erred by dissolving a temporary injunction and by holding the defendants were entitled to qualified immunity.

Hubbard is a tenured teacher in Osage County U.S.D. No. 434. On April 7, 1992, the U.S.D. No. 434 Board of Education informed Hubbard of its intention to terminate his contract due to allegations of improper conduct by students in one of his classes which was recorded on videotape. The Board conducted a hearing on April 14 and suspended Hubbard’s teaching responsibilities, pending a due process hearing. On September 28, 1992, the due process hearing panel recommended reinstating Hubbard, finding the incident giving rise to his suspension was isolated and out of the norm-.

On October 5, 1992, the Board voted to appeal the hearing committee’s decision. The Board also voted to hold another hearing to determine whether Hubbard should be suspended with or' without pay during the pendency of the action.

The second hearing was held October 9, 1992. Hubbard appeared at the open session of the Board with counsel and called two witnesses. After hearing Hubbard’s witnesses, and viewing the videotape, the Board met in executive session. Upon reconvening the meeting, the Board unanimously adopted a resolution terminating Hubbard’s pay until the case was resolved on appeal.

Hubbard filed a petition in the district court seeking injunctive relief and damages, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 (1988). He also sought damages for breach of contract and a writ of mandamus. The court granted the injunction, preventing the Board from terminating Hubbard’s pay pending the court’s decision on the Board’s appeal. The district court affirmed the hearing panel’s decision and ordered Hubbard reinstated. The Board appealed to this court, which affirmed the district court’s decision. U.S.D. No. 434 v. Hubbard, 19 Kan. App. 2d 323, 868 P.2d 1240 (1994), rev. denied June 7, 1994.

After the district court ruled on the Board’s appeal, the Board and its members moved for summary judgment in the civil rights case (this case), seeking rescission of the restraining order and a decision in its favor on the issue of monetary damages. The district court entered summary judgment for the defendants, holding they were entitled to qualified immunity. The court also lifted the [855]*855injunction, noting the decision on the merits of the case took away the reason for the injunction.

Hubbard appeals, claiming the injunction should not have been lifted, that the defendants are not shielded by qualified immunity, and .that he is entitled to relief by mandamus.

The parties break the argument into multiple separate issues. However, the issues can be more easily addressed by grouping them as follows:

I. Was the district court correct in holding the defendants were shielded by qualified immunity?

II. Did the hearing provide Hubbard with due process?

III. Did the court err by dissolving the injunction?

IV. Did the court err by dismissing the breach of contract claim?

V. Was the plaintiff entitled to relief by mandamus?

I. Was the district court correct in entering summary judgment for the defendants based on the defense of qualified immunity?

The defendants moved for summary judgment, raising the defense of qualified immunity. Summary judgment is appropriate when there are no disputed questions of material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. K.S.A. 60-256(c).

42 U.S.C. § 1983 states:

“Every person who, under color of any statute, ordinance, regulation, custom, or usage, of any State or Territory or the District of Columbia, subjects, or causes to be subjected, any citizen of the United States or other person within the jurisdiction thereof to the deprivation of any rights, privileges, or immunities secured by the Constitution and laws, shall be liable to the party injured in an action at law, suit in equity, or other proper proceeding for redress.”

The Supreme Court of the United States has held that governmental officials are entitled to the common-law immunities for actions brought pursuant to this statute. The right to immunity is not, in all cases, absolute. In this case, the defendants argue they were entitled to qualified immunity. Qualified immunity is a way “ ‘to protect officials who are required to exercise their discretion and the related public interest in encouraging the vigorous exercise of official authority.’ ” Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 [856]*856U.S. 800, 807, 73 L. Ed. 2d 396, 102 S. Ct. 2727 (1982) (quoting Butz v. Economou, 438 U.S. 478, 506, 57 L. Ed. 2d 895, 98 S. Ct. 2894 [1978]).

The district court held the defendants were entitled to summary judgment based on the defense of qualified immunity. In Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. at 818, the United States Supreme Court stated: “[Government officials performing discretionary functions generally are shielded from liability for civil damages insofar as their conduct does not violate clearly established statutory or constitutional rights of which a reasonable person would have known. [Citations omitted.]”

In Anderson v. Creighton, 483 U.S. 635, 640, 97 L. Ed. 2d 523, 107 S. Ct. 3034 (1987), the United States Supreme Court stated:

“[O]ur cases establish that the right the official is alleged to have violated must have been ‘clearly established’ in a more particularized, and hence more relevant, sense: The contours of the right must be sufficiently clear that a reasonable official would understand that what he is doing violates that right. This is not to say that an official action is protected by qualified immunity unless the very action in question has previously been held unlawful [citation omitted]; but it is to say that in the light of pre-existing law the unlawfulness must be apparent.”

These cases establish an objective, not subjective, standard of reasonableness.

Hubbard argues the Board did not have the authority to suspend him without pay while appealing the hearing committee’s decision. At the time the Board acted, the Supreme Court had not rendered its decision in McMillen v. U.S.D. No. 380, 253 Kan. 259, 855 P.2d 896 (1993) (McMillen II). The court had considered the constitutionality of the statutory due process procedure and held it was constitutional. See U.S.D. No. 380 v. McMillen, 252 Kan. 451, 845 P.2d 676 (1993) (McMillen I).

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Bluebook (online)
882 P.2d 483, 19 Kan. App. 2d 853, 1994 Kan. App. LEXIS 107, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/hubbard-v-board-of-education-kanctapp-1994.