Leslie v. Hancock County School District

994 F. Supp. 2d 1339, 2014 WL 297809, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9369
CourtDistrict Court, M.D. Georgia
DecidedJanuary 27, 2014
DocketCivil Action No. 5:11-CV-497 (MTT)
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 994 F. Supp. 2d 1339 (Leslie v. Hancock County School District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, M.D. Georgia primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Leslie v. Hancock County School District, 994 F. Supp. 2d 1339, 2014 WL 297809, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9369 (M.D. Ga. 2014).

Opinion

ORDER

MARC T. TREADWELL, District Judge.

Defendant Hancock County School District has renewed its motion to dismiss upon the return of this case from the Eleventh Circuit. (Doc. 23). Overruling this Court, the Eleventh Circuit held that the individual members of the Hancock County School Board were entitled to qualified immunity. Leslie v. Hancock Cnty. Bd. of Educ., 720 F.3d 1338, 1352 (11th Cir.2013). The Eleventh Circuit refused to exercise jurisdiction over the School District’s appeal from this Court’s order denying its motion to dismiss. Nevertheless, the School District now contends that the Eleventh Circuit’s decision requires the dismissal of the Plaintiffs’ claims against it. For the following reasons, the motion is DENIED.

I. FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Plaintiffs Dr. Awanna Leslie and Bettye Richardson were employed by the School District as the Superintendent and Assistant Superintendent, respectively, of schools. (Doc. 1 at ¶ 5). In early 2009, the Plaintiffs allege they discovered Hancock County’s Tax Commissioner had been collecting property taxes at a “severely deficient rate.” (Doc. 1 at ¶ 6). The Plaintiffs assert that “the deficient tax collections” led to the underfunding of the School District and “made it impossible for the Plaintiffs to adequately perform their duties as administrators” of the School District. (Doc. 1 at ¶¶ 6-7). The Plaintiffs further allege the Tax Commissioner “failed to provide adequate projections of tax revenue,” causing the Plaintiffs difficulty with preparing the School District’s budget. (Doc. 1 at ¶ 8).

According to the Plaintiffs, throughout 2009 and 2010, they publically expressed their concerns regarding the Tax Commissioner’s deficient collection of property taxes and its effect on funding for the [1342]*1342School District. (Doc. 1 at ¶ 9). Leslie made comments concerning the deficient property tax collection rate at three public Hancock County Board of Education meetings. (Doc. 1 at ¶ 10). Leslie also made statements concerning the deficient property tax collection rate at a Hancock County Tax Commission hearing. (Doc. 1 at ¶ 11). Further, Leslie made comments regarding the deficient property tax collection rate that appeared in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.1 Richardson alleges she accompanied Leslie on her trips to the Hancock County Tax Commissioner’s office and also publically criticized the Tax Commissioner’s deficient tax collection rate. (Doc. 1 at ¶ 17).

The Plaintiffs’ public comments about deficient tax collections referred only to the Tax Commissioner, and there is no indication in the sparse record that their comments led to any difficulties with the Hancock County School District or the members of the Board of Education. That changed, however, after voters replaced all five members of the Board of Education in the Fall 2010 elections. (Doc. 1 at ¶ 14). The newly elected Board Chair, Gwendolyn Reeves, was the Tax Commissioner’s sister-in-law, and the remaining new Board members were “sympathetic” to the Tax Commissioner. (Doc. 1 at ¶ 14). On January 29, 2011, the Board of Education terminated Leslie allegedly without providing any justification. (Doc. 1 at ¶ 15). Richardson alleges that, based on Reeves’s recommendations, she was twice demoted before being terminated on April 7, 2011. (Doc. 1 at ¶¶ 18-19).

The Plaintiffs then filed this action pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §§ 1983 and 1988, alleging the Board of Education fired them in retaliation for the exercise of their First Amendment right of free speech.

II. DISCUSSION

A. Motion to Dismiss Standard of Review

To avoid dismissal pursuant to Fed. R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6), a complaint must contain specific factual matter to “ ‘state a claim to relief that is plausible on its face.’ ” Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678, 129 S.Ct. 1937, 173 L.Ed.2d 868 (2009) (quoting Bell Atl. Corp. v. Twombly, 550 U.S. 544, 570, 127 S.Ct. 1955, 167 L.Ed.2d 929 (2007)). “At the motion to dismiss stage, all well-pleaded facts are accepted as true, and the reasonable inferences therefrom are construed in the light most favorable to the plaintiff.” Garfield v. NDC Health Corp., 466 F.3d 1255, 1261 (11th Cir.2006) (internal quotation marks and citation omitted). However, “where the well-pleaded facts do not permit the court to infer more than the mere possibility of misconduct, the complaint has alleged — but it has not ‘shown’ — that the pleader is entitled to relief.” Iqbal, 556 U.S. at 679, 129 S.Ct. 1937. “[Cjonclusory allegations, unwarranted deductions of facts or legal conclusions masquerading as facts will not prevent dismissal.” Oxford Asset Mgmt., Ltd. v. Jaharis, 297 F.3d 1182, 1188 (11th Cir. 2002). Where there are dispositive issues of law, a court may dismiss a claim regardless of the alleged facts. Marshall Cnty. Bd. of Educ. v. Marshall Cnty. Gas Dist., 992 F.2d 1171, 1174 (11th Cir.1993) (citation omitted).

B. First Amendment Speech Retaliation Claims

“The law is well-established that a [public] employee may not be discharged [1343]*1343in retaliation for speech protected under the First Amendment.” Vila v. Padron, 484 F.3d 1334, 1339 (11th Cir.2007) (citing Rankin v. McPherson, 483 U.S. 378, 383, 107 S.Ct. 2891, 97 L.Ed.2d 315 (1987)). The United States Supreme Court, in Pickering v. Board of Education, 391 U.S. 563, 88 S.Ct. 1731, 20 L.Ed.2d 811 (1968) and Connick v. Myers, 461 U.S. 138, 103 S.Ct. 1684, 75 L.Ed.2d 708 (1983), established a four-part test, commonly called the Pickering test, to determine whether retaliation against a public employee for her speech violates the First Amendment. See, e.g., Cook v. Gwinnett Cnty. Sch. Dist., 414 F.3d 1313, 1318 (11th Cir.2005). Pursuant to this test, a public employee must show:

(1) she was speaking as a citizen on a matter of public concern; (2) her interests as a citizen outweighed the interests of the [government] as an employer; and (3) the speech played a substantial or motivating role in the adverse employment action. If the plaintiff establishes these elements, the burden shifts to the defendant to prove [ (4) ] it would have made the same adverse employment decision absent the employee’s speech.

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994 F. Supp. 2d 1339, 2014 WL 297809, 2014 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 9369, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/leslie-v-hancock-county-school-district-gamd-2014.