McMullen v. Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District

200 F. Supp. 3d 649, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 99535, 2016 WL 4087321
CourtDistrict Court, N.D. Mississippi
DecidedJuly 29, 2016
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 1:15-CV-00196-SA-DAS
StatusPublished
Cited by10 cases

This text of 200 F. Supp. 3d 649 (McMullen v. Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, N.D. Mississippi primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
McMullen v. Starkville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District, 200 F. Supp. 3d 649, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 99535, 2016 WL 4087321 (N.D. Miss. 2016).

Opinion

MEMORANDUM OPINION

Sharion Aycock, UNITED STATES DISTRICT JUDGE

The individual Defendants in this public school employment action have moved for summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity.1 The Court has considered the motion, responses, record, and pertinent authorities, and finds as follows:

Factual and Procedural Background

Angela McMullen transferred from Columbus Municipal School District to Stark-ville Oktibbeha Consolidated School District during the 2013-2014 school year to serve as a special education instructor at Armstrong Middle School. The District renewed her employment for the 2014-2015 school year, and McMullen commenced teaching sixth grade science at Armstrong.

In February 2015, McMullen and her mother began experiencing medical issues, and McMullen anticipated that she may miss work in the near future. She twice emailed District employees Kelly Smith and Elsie Hopkins, requesting paperwork for' a potential absence covered by thé Family Medical Leave Act (“FMLA”). Hopkins emailed back, stating that McMullen was not eligible for FMLA paperwork unless she had already missed four consecutive days of work.

As McMullen anticipated, she missed a significant amount of work beginning April 16. Armstrong Principal Timothy Bourne emailed McMullen on April 23, informing her that paperwork for FMLA leave should have been submitted prior to her absence, and that because she had not done so, she was required to present a doctor’s excuse for the time she had missed. McMullen responded to Bourne’s email, recounting- her unsuccessful at[653]*653tempts to retrieve the paperwork from Hopkins in advance of her time off.

During her absence, McMullen and other Armstrong employees received an email informing them to “come by” on May 1 and sign their contracts for the 2015-2016 school year. McMullen responded and requested that Armstrong mail her contract or send it home with another teacher. McMullen never received her contract.

On May 15, McMullen notified Principal Bourne by email that she had not been cleared to return to work and was uncertain if she would be back before the end of the school year, May 26. Sometime after receiving this email, Bourne met with District Superintendent Lewis Holloway to discuss McMullen’s situation. According, to Holloway, in the meeting, Bourne relayed that McMullen was reprimanded following a “testing irregularity”2 and had since “failed to return to work, failed to do lesson plans, failed to provide tests, failed to provide information to her team members, failed to do anything, and that he had students who were going unserved or being served by a substitute teacher who was not as qualified as Ms. McMullen .....” Based on Principal Bourne’s account, and on what Superintendent Holloway described as McMullen’s email “notification that she had no intention to return for the rest of the year[,]” Holloway recommended Bourne draft a termination letter.

McMullen went to Armstrong on May. 21 and asked to sign her contract, but was directed to discuss her employment with Superintendent Holloway. According to McMullen, Holloway informed her she had been terminated and gave her the reasons, i.e., that she had not signed her. contract and that Principal Bourne had not heard anything from her in days. McMullen told Holloway this was false, as she claims to have met with Bourne around May 15 to discuss her leave- of absence and medical complications. Holloway summoned Bourne to his office, where the three had an impromptu meeting. McMullen testified that she confronted Bourne and in turn, was questioned about ■ whether she was actually receiving medical treatment.

: The evidence provides an unclear -picture of how the May 21 meeting was resolved. At some point, either Bourne or Holloway provided McMullen with a termination letter dated that day. On May 22, the School Board ratified the decision to terminate McMullen, deemed effective May 21.

McMullen commenced this action against the District and against Principal Bourne and Superintendent Holloway in their individual and official capacities. Although the complaint lacks some clarity, the substance of the pleadings reveals al-legéd violations of due process and the FMLA brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. Section 1983. She also asserts contract-related claims under Mississippi law.

Bourne and Holloway filed the pending motion, requesting summary judgment on the basis of qualified immunity as to the federal claims,3 as well as summary judgment on any state-law claims against them. McMullen’s response only addresses federal due process. Thus, any other claims arguably listed in the complaint and raised [654]*654by Defendants’ summary judgment motion are abandoned. See Sanders v. Sailormen, Inc., No. 3:10-CV-606-CWR, 2012 WL 663021, at *3 (S.D.Miss. Feb. 28, 2012), aff'd, 506 Fed.Appx. 303 (5th Cir.2013). For' purposes of this motion, the Court considers whether Bourne and Holloway are entitled to qualified immunity on McMullen’s procedural and substantive due process claims.

Summary Judgment and Qualified Immunity

Summary judgment is warranted under Rule 56(a) of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure when the evidence reveals no genuine dispute regarding any material fact and the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law. The party moving for summary judgment “bears the initial responsibility of informing the district court of the basis for its motion, and identifying those portions of [the record] which it believes demonstrate the absence of a genuine issue of material fact.” Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 323, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). The nonmoving party must then “go beyond the pleadings” and “set forth ‘specific facts showing that there is a genuine issue for trial.’ ” Id. at 324, 106 S.Ct. 2548 (citation omitted).

The normal “summary judgment burden of proof is altered in the case of a qualified immunity defense.” Wolfe v. Meziere, 566 Fed.Appx. 353, 354 (5th Cir.2014) (citing Michalik v. Hermann, 422 F.3d 252, 262 (5th Cir.2005); Bazan ex rel. Bazan v. Hidalgo Cnty., 246 F.3d 481, 489 (5th Cir.2001)). As a defense to Section 1983 claims, “[t]he doctrine of qualified immunity shields ‘government officials performing discretionary functions ... 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.” Luna v. Mullenix, 773 F.3d 712, 718 (5th Cir.2014) (quoting Harlow v. Fitzgerald, 457 U.S. 800, 818, 102 S.Ct. 2727, 73 L.Ed.2d 396 (1982)). To raise qualified immunity, “[a]n officer need only plead his good faith, which then shifts the burden to the plaintiff, who must rebut the defense by establishing that the officer’s allegedly wrongful conduct violated clearly established law.” Id.

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200 F. Supp. 3d 649, 2016 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 99535, 2016 WL 4087321, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/mcmullen-v-starkville-oktibbeha-consolidated-school-district-msnd-2016.