Jones v. Alabama State Tenure Commission

871 So. 2d 62, 2003 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 5, 2003 WL 77175
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedJanuary 10, 2003
Docket2010726
StatusPublished

This text of 871 So. 2d 62 (Jones v. Alabama State Tenure Commission) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Civil Appeals of Alabama primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jones v. Alabama State Tenure Commission, 871 So. 2d 62, 2003 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 5, 2003 WL 77175 (Ala. Ct. App. 2003).

Opinions

CRAWLEY, Judge.

Jamie Jones appeals from the trial court’s denial of her petition for a writ of mandamus, which left a decision of the State Tenure Commission, approving her transfer, undisturbed. We reverse and remand.

On May 21, 2001, Jones, a guidance counselor at Theodore High School, received a hand-delivered letter from the superintendent of the Mobile County Public School System (hereinafter referred to as “the school system”) giving her notice that she had been recommended for a [63]*63transfer. The letter stated that the Board of School Commissioners (hereinafter referred to as “the school board”) had approved a proposed change in her assignment on May 17, 2001, and that she had 15 days to file a written demand for a hearing if she chose to contest her proposed transfer. On May 29, 2001, the school system received written notice that Jones wished to contest her proposed transfer.

On June 2, 2001, Jones received a letter from the school system stating that the school board would conduct a hearing on her proposed transfer on June 12, 2001. The letter set out the witnesses the school system expected to call at the hearing and attached documentation that was expected to be offered into evidence.1 On June 11, 2001, the day before the scheduled hearing, counsel for the school system sent a facsimile transmission to Jones’s counsel; that facsimile stated:

“As we discussed on Friday, Mrs. Jones’ transfer hearing is set for Tuesday, June 12, 2001, at 4:00 p.m. The reason for the proposed transfer is ‘other good and just causes.’
“At the hearing I expect to call as a witness, Dr. Harold Dodge to testify to his recommendation for the transfer and to the [school board’s] action on that recommendation. Also, Mr. Larry Henderson, principal at Theodore High School, is expected to testify that in his opinion [ (1) ] the school would function more smoothly and efficiently without Mrs. Jones; [ (2) ] that she is disruptive among the faculty; [ (3) ] that she does not get along well with her co-workers; [ (Jf) ] that he is aware of one occasion when she left the campus during school hours and purchased beer at a nearby drug store; and [(5) ] that it ivould be in the best interest of the faculty at Theodore if Mrs. Jones ivere to be transferred.”

On June 12, 2001, the school board conducted a hearing and accepted the school system’s recommendation that Jones be transferred.

On June 22, 2001, Jones filed a notice of appeal to the State Tenure Commission, pursuant to § 16-24-7, Ala.Code 1975. On August 30, 2001, after conducting a hearing on Jones’s appeal, the State Tenure Commission affirmed the school board’s decision. On September 19, 2001, Jones filed a petition for a writ of mandamus with the trial court. Jones set out the basis for her petition, in pertinent part, as follows:

“9. The Tenure Commission’s decision to sustain the [s]chool [b]oard’s decision to transfer [Jones] was unjust and was not in compliance with the Alabama State Tenure Law in the following respects. Section 16-24-7 of the Tenure Law provides that ‘the action of the State Tenure Commission ... shall be based on the record of the proceedings before the said board and the evidence as recorded at such hearing.’ The Tenure Commission ignored the evidence which reasonably and substantially es[64]*64tablished that the [s]chool [b]oard failed to carry its burden to produce evidence to support the alleged reasons for transferring Jamie Jones. Instead, the Commission rendered a decision against the preponderance and the overwhelming weight of the evidence....”

On March 4, 2002, the trial court entered an order denying Jones’s petition for a writ of mandamus; that order stated, in pertinent part:

“On January 4, 2002, the court heard oral argument by attorneys for [Jones] and [the State Tenure Commission] and has now reviewed briefs submitted by the parties, as well as the record of proceedings before the [school board] and its review by the State Tenure Commission. After careful consideration of the said records, the briefs and argument of counsel, the court finds that the action of the State Tenure Commission in reviewing the ordered transfer of petitioner was in compliance with the provisions of law, including specifically Chapter 24 of Title 16, Code of Alabama 1975, and that such action was not unjust.”

On April 15, 2002, Jones filed a notice of appeal to this court.

On appeal, Jones contends (1) that the school system failed to produce sufficient proof of the reasons it provided as grounds supporting her transfer, and (2) that the transfer should otherwise be rejected because, she says, (a) the school system’s position was based on hearsay evidence; (b) the transfer decision was based on political and personal reasons; and (c) the school board did not allow her to present testimony regarding the political and personal reasons for her transfer.

This court has stated the applicable standard of review as follows:

“Our scope of appellate review in a case such as this — an appeal from an order entered by the circuit court on appeal from an order by the State Tenure Commission — is the same as that of the circuit court. Alabama State Tenure Comm’n v. Conecuh County Bd. of Educ., 495 So.2d 1105 (Ala.Civ.App. 1985), cert. quashed, 495 So.2d 1108 (Ala.1986). The Commission’s decision will be upheld unless procedural requirements were not properly complied with or unless its decision is so contrary to the weight and preponderance of the evidence as to be unjust. County Bd. of Educ. of Shelby County v. Alabama State Tenure Comm’n, 892 So.2d 842 (Ala.Civ.App.1980), cert. denied, 392 So.2d 844 (Ala.1981).”

Coley v. Alabama State Tenure Comm’n, 766 So.2d 846, 847 (Ala.Civ.App.1999). Our supreme court has also observed:

“Because the Commission has the power to retry the case on the record and to reach its own conclusions of fact, Sumter County Bd. of Educ. v. Alabama State Tenure Comm’n, 352 So.2d 1133, 1135 (Ala.Civ.App.), aff'd as modified, 352 So.2d 1137 (Ala.1977), once the Commission makes a finding from the record, an appellate court must presume the Commission’s decision to be correct and overturn the decision only if it finds overwhelming evidence contrary to the decision.”

Ex parte Alabama State Tenure Comm’n, 595 So.2d 479, 481 (Ala.1991).

The specific ground provided by the school system as support for Jones’s transfer was “other good and just causes,” specifically including the school principal’s opinion that

“[ (1) ] the school would function more smoothly and efficiently without Mrs. Jones; [ (2) ] that she is disruptive among the faculty; [ (3) ] that she does not get along well with her co-workers; [65]*65[ (4) ] that he is aware of one occasion when she left the campus during school hours and purchased beer at a nearby drug store; and [ (5) ] that it would be in the best interest of the faculty at Theodore if Mrs. Jones were to be transferred.”

During the hearing before the school board, Larry Henderson, the principal of Theodore High School, testified during his direct testimony, in pertinent part, as follows.

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Bluebook (online)
871 So. 2d 62, 2003 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 5, 2003 WL 77175, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jones-v-alabama-state-tenure-commission-alacivapp-2003.