Merritt v. CONSOLIDATED SCH. D. NO. 8, RIO GRANDE CTY.

522 P.2d 137, 1974 Colo. App. LEXIS 937
CourtColorado Court of Appeals
DecidedFebruary 13, 1974
Docket72-352
StatusPublished
Cited by2 cases

This text of 522 P.2d 137 (Merritt v. CONSOLIDATED SCH. D. NO. 8, RIO GRANDE CTY.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Colorado Court of Appeals primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Merritt v. CONSOLIDATED SCH. D. NO. 8, RIO GRANDE CTY., 522 P.2d 137, 1974 Colo. App. LEXIS 937 (Colo. Ct. App. 1974).

Opinion

522 P.2d 137 (1974)

Richard MERRITT, Plaintiff-Appellant,
v.
CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT NO. 8 IN AND FOR RIO GRANDE COUNTY, State of Colorado, et al., Defendants-Appellees.

No. 72-352.

Colorado Court of Appeals, Div. I.

February 13, 1974.
Rehearing Denied March 19, 1974.
Certiorari Denied June 3, 1974.

*138 Hobbs & Waldbaum, Larry F. Hobbs, Denver, for plaintiff-appellant.

Robert W. Ogburn, Eugene L. Farish, Monte Vista, for defendants-appellees.

Not Selected for Official Publication.

*139 RULAND, Judge.

Plaintiff, a non-tenure teacher, appeals from judgments of the district court dismissing his original and amended complaints against the defendants (the Board). Both complaints were in response to his suspension as a teacher and subsequent action terminating his teaching position with Consolidated School District No. 8.

The only issue for our determination is whether the original and amended complaints state a claim for relief. We are governed in this case by two basic principles. First, if a claim for relief appears in any way from the allegations made, the motion to dismiss must be denied. Kubal v. Jackson, 119 Colo. 390, 203 P.2d 737. Second, the material allegations of the complaints must be taken as admitted. Cook v. Denver, 128 Colo. 578, 265 P.2d 700; Millard v. Smith, 30 Colo.App. 466, 495 P.2d 234.

In both complaints, plaintiff alleged the following events in connection with plaintiff's suspension and termination. The superintendent for Consolidated School District No. 8 filed charges with the Board seeking dismissal of plaintiff from his teaching and assistant principal assignments pursuant to the applicable provision of the Teacher Employment, Dismissal and Tenure Act, 1967 Perm.Supp., C.R.S.1963, XXX-XX-XX. References to this Act will be to section numbers.

Pursuant to sections 123-18-11 and 123-18-17(2) of the Act, the Board "accepted" the charges for review, and a three man panel was selected to hear the charges. The charges against plaintiff were delineated by the panel as follows: (1) Plaintiff concocted stories that Spanish surnamed persons tried to and did harm him; (2) these stories were intended to and did increase tension in the school and harmed race relations; (3) plaintiff's actions were highly inimical to the health, safety, and morale of the students; and (4) this conduct demonstrated an immature and callous indifference to the interests of the public school system.

After a three day hearing, the panel issued lengthy findings of fact, conclusions, and recommendation. Two members of the panel found that plaintiff was successful in disproving the charges, and they recommended that plaintiff be retained. The third member dissented stating only that he disagreed with the majority's findings, conclusions, and recommendation.

In acting on the panel's recommendation, the Board entered its order, which in pertinent part is as follows:

"The Board of Education reluctantly accepts the recommendation of the majority of a three man panel constituted to hear the above-captioned matter. Even though the Board of Education agrees with the interpretation of . . . [the] dissenting opinion concerning the findings of fact, conclusions, and overall conduct of the panel hearing, it feels that it would be in the interest of the School District to avoid the expenses of further litigation . . . . Rather than relying solely on their own personal feelings, the Superintendent and members of the Board of Education have interviewed teachers and administrators at the Monte Vista High School to ascertain their opinions."

The results of the poll referred to were included in the order and a majority of those interviewed indicated that in their opinion plaintiff would not be effective if he returned to the classroom and that if he returned, the turmoil of the previous fall would resume. The order contained no indication as to the reasons for the opinions expressed by those polled, nor how and under what circumstances the opinion poll was conducted. The Board's order concludes as follows:

"In light of all the circumstances of this case . . . the Board . . . accepts the panel recommendation in regard to retaining Mr. Merritt and agrees to retain him for the duration of his contract . . . but in the interests of the students, faculty, other employees, as well as community at large, the Board *140 suspends . . . [plaintiff] for the balance of the 1971-1972 school contract period with pay."

Pursuant to section 123-18-10 of the Act, the Board thereafter gave written notice to plaintiff as a non-tenure teacher that he would not be reemployed for the following school year. The original and amended complaints challenge both plaintiff's suspension and the action of the Board in not reemploying plaintiff for the next school year.

I

The Original Complaint

In the original complaint, plaintiff alleged three claims for relief. Following the trial court's order of dismissal on all claims of the original complaint, plaintiff filed a motion pursuant to C.R.C.P. 54(b) requesting that the court enter a final judgment as to the first claim of the original complaint. Plaintiff also filed an amended complaint which alleged in revised form the other claims of the original complaint. Pursuant to plaintiff's motion, the trial court entered a final judgment on the first claim of the original complaint, and plaintiff appeals from that judgment. We reverse.

In the first claim of the original complaint, after alleging the events surrounding plaintiff's suspension, plaintiff alleged that: (1) The Board exceeded the authority granted under section 123-18-17(10) of the Act by its suspension of plaintiff for the remainder of the school year; (2) the Board violated section 123-18-17(10) in making an independent investigation following the hearing held by the panel and in reviewing only a portion of the record before the panel; and (3) the Board acted arbitrarily and capriciously in suspending plaintiff.

In support of the trial court's order of dismissal, the Board argues that plaintiff was the successful party in the dismissal proceedings because, even though he was suspended, he was suspended with pay and, therefore, in effect retained. Therefore, the Board contends there was nothing for the trial court to review. We disagree.

Section 123-18-17(11) does not limit review by the trial court to cases in which the Board orders a dismissal. This section provides for judicial review pursuant to C.R.S.1963, 3-16-5(5), which authorizes review of the Board's action if the teacher has been "adversely affected or aggrieved".

The manner in which the results of the opinion poll are recorded in the Board's order may be construed to raise adverse inferences regarding plaintiff's character, professional integrity, and ability. Plaintiff alleges in his complaint that there is no evidence to support these conclusions, and plaintiff also alleges irreparable injury as a result of the suspension. Such allegations are sufficient for plaintiff to be considered an aggrieved party and thus eligible to seek judicial review of the suspension.

The question then becomes whether plaintiff's allegations would support a finding that the Board failed to comply with section 123-18-17 in entering the order of suspension.

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Bluebook (online)
522 P.2d 137, 1974 Colo. App. LEXIS 937, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/merritt-v-consolidated-sch-d-no-8-rio-grande-cty-coloctapp-1974.