Massey v. Womack

105 So. 3d 1213, 2012 WL 3871467, 2012 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 238
CourtCourt of Civil Appeals of Alabama
DecidedSeptember 7, 2012
Docket2110422
StatusPublished

This text of 105 So. 3d 1213 (Massey v. Womack) 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
Massey v. Womack, 105 So. 3d 1213, 2012 WL 3871467, 2012 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 238 (Ala. Ct. App. 2012).

Opinion

BRYAN, Judge.

Diana Massey appeals from a summary judgment in favor of the Florence City Board of Education (“the board”), the individual members of the board (“the board members”), in their official capacities,1 and the superintendent of the board (“the superintendent”), in her official capacity.2 We affirm.

Effective March 10, 2004, the board employed Massey, who is a registered nurse, for the position of “Head Start Health and Data Entry Coordinator” at the Handy Head Start Family Service Center (“Handy Head Start”). On August 10, 2010, the board transferred Massey to the position of “Registered Nurse” at Weeden Elementary School.

While she was employed as Head Start Health and Data Entry Coordinator at Handy Head Start, Massey was paid the salary specified for that position on the board’s salary schedule for its Head Start and Early Head Start staff. Since being transferred to the position of Registered Nurse at Weeden Elementary School on August 10, 2010, Massey has been paid the salary specified for the position of Regis[1215]*1215tered Nurse on the board’s salary schedule for its employees at schools that serve children in kindergarten and grades 1 through 12 (“the K-12 salary schedule”).

The annual education budget acts for fiscal years 2007-2008, 2008-2009, 2009-2010, and 2010-2011 contained minimum-salary schedules for school nurses (“the minimum-salary schedules”). The salary Massey was paid while she was Head Start Health and Data Entry Coordinator at Handy Head Start was lower than both the salary specified by the minimum-salary schedules for a school nurse with experience comparable to Massey’s and the salary specified by the K-12 salary schedule for a Registered Nurse with experience comparable to Massey’s.

On March 8, 2009, Massey sued the board, the board members, and the superintendent, claiming that, beginning with fiscal year 2007-2008, the board should have paid her for her service as Head Start Health and Data Entry Coordinator at Handy Head Start either the salary specified for a school nurse with experience comparable to Massey’s on the minimum-salary schedules or the salary specified for a Registered Nurse with experience comparable to Massey’s on the K-12 salary schedule. Massey stated a breach-of-contract claim seeking compensatory damages, costs, and an attorney fee. In addition, she stated a claim seeking a judgment declaring that she was entitled to back pay and benefits (“the claimed back pay and benefits”) in an amount equal to the difference between the salary and benefits she would have received if she had been paid in accordance with the minimum-salary schedules or the K-12 salary schedule while she served as the Head Start Health and Data Entry Coordinator at Handy Head Start and the salary and benefits she actually received for that service. She also stated claims seeking a writ of mandamus and an injunction compelling the board, the board members, and the superintendent to pay her the claimed back pay and benefits.

Answering, the board, the board members, and the superintendent denied that Massey was entitled to be paid in accordance with either the minimum-salary schedules or the K-12 salary schedule while she served as the Head Start Health and Data Entry Coordinator at Handy Head Start, denied that she was entitled to the claimed back pay or benefits, and asserted that Article I, § 14, Alabama Constitution of 1901 (“ § 14”), barred Massey’s claims.

On September 15, 2011, the parties filed cross-motions for a summary judgment and supporting evidence. Following a hearing, the trial court, on November 9, 2011, entered a judgment denying the summary-judgment motion filed by Massey and granting the summary-judgment motion filed by the board, the board members, and the superintendent.

Massey timely filed a Rule 59(e), Ala. R. Civ. P., postjudgment motion, which the trial court denied. Massey then timely appealed to this court.

“We review a summary judgment de novo. American Liberty Ins. Co. v. AmSouth Bank, 825 So.2d 786 (Ala.2002).
“ ‘We apply the same standard of review the trial court used in determining whether the evidence presented to the trial court created a genuine issue of material fact. Onee a party moving for a summary judgment establishes that no genuine issue of material fact exists, the burden shifts to the non-movant to present substantial evidence creating a genuine issue of material fact. “Substantial evidence” is “evidence of such weight and quality [1216]*1216that fair-minded persons in the exercise of impartial judgment can reasonably infer the existence of the fact sought to be proved.” In reviewing a summary judgment, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the nonmovant and entertain such reasonable inferences as the jury would have been free to draw.’
“Nationwide Prop. & Cas. Ins. Co.[ v. DPF Architects, P.C.], 792 So.2d [369] at 372 [(Ala.2000)] (citations omitted), quoted in American Liberty Ins. Co., 825 So.2d at 790.”

Potter v. First Real Estate Co., 844 So.2d 540, 545 (Ala.2002).

Initially, we note that Massey conceded in the trial court and concedes in her reply brief to this court that § 14 bars all her claims against the board. Therefore, we affirm the summary judgment with respect to the board. Moreover, Massey concedes in her reply brief to this court that § 14 bars all her claims against the superintendent. Therefore, we affirm the summary judgment with respect to the superintendent.

Although Massey argues that § 14 does not bar her claims against the board members insofar as her claims seek to compel the board members to pay her the claimed back pay and benefits, she has not argued that § 14 does not bar her claims insofar as they seek other forms of relief against the board members. “When an appellant fails to argue an issue in its brief, that issue is waived.” Boshell v. Keith, 418 So.2d 89, 92 (Ala.1982). Therefore, we affirm the summary judgment in favor of the board members insofar as Massey’s claims seek any form of relief other than a writ of mandamus or an injunction compelling the board members to pay her the claimed back pay and benefits.

In Ex parte Bessemer Board of Education, 68 So.3d 782, 790-91 (Ala.2011), the supreme court held that § 14 did not bar a claim against the members of the Bessemer Board of Education in their official capacities seeking to compel them to pay an employee of the Bessemer Board of Education the appropriate pay increase she was due under a statute because the members of the Bessemer Board of Education had a legal duty to pay her the appropriate pay increase and, therefore, the payment of the appropriate pay increase she was due under the statute was a ministerial act. In the present case, if Massey was entitled to be paid in accordance with either the minimum-salary schedules or the K-12 salary schedule while she was Head Start Health and Data Entry Coordinator at Handy Head Start, the board would have a legal duty to pay her the claimed back pay and benefits and, therefore, the payment of the claimed back pay and benefits by the board members would be a ministerial act. Id. Accordingly, we conclude that § 14 does not bar Massey’s claims insofar as they seek to compel the board members to pay her the claimed back pay and benefits, and, therefore, we will consider the merits of Massey’s argument regarding those claims.

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Related

Potter v. First Real Estate Co., Inc.
844 So. 2d 540 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 2002)
Boshell v. Keith
418 So. 2d 89 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 1982)
American Liberty Insurance Co. v. Amsouth Bank
825 So. 2d 786 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 2002)
Bessemer Board of Education v. Minor
68 So. 3d 782 (Supreme Court of Alabama, 2011)

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Bluebook (online)
105 So. 3d 1213, 2012 WL 3871467, 2012 Ala. Civ. App. LEXIS 238, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/massey-v-womack-alacivapp-2012.