Paul v. Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township

455 N.E.2d 411, 14 Educ. L. Rep. 365, 1983 Ind. App. LEXIS 3502
Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided October 31, 1983·No. 2-583A146·Published·Cited by 9 cases

Opinion

RATLIFF, Judge.

STATEMENT OF THE CASE

Appellant Linda Paul appeals from a decision of the Marion Circuit Court granting appellee Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township's (School) motion to dismiss based on Paul's failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. We affirm.

FACTS

Appellant was hired on March 1, 1982, by the School to take the place of another teacher who had taken a pregnancy-related leave of absence. Paul was hired with the understanding that she was to be a " 'permanent substitute' ", record at 9, to be paid thirty dollars ($30.00) a day for the first fifteen (15) days and thereafter to be paid seale according to her experience. On May 25, 1982, Paul brought suit claiming that she should have been employed as a temporary teacher rather than as a substitute. The court granted the School's motion to dismiss for Paul's failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted. It is from that decision that Paul now appeals.

ISSUES

Paul raises four (4) issues on appeal. However, two (2) of the issues are disposi-tive of the instant case. Rephrased, those issues are as follows:

1. Was the School required to employ Paul as a temporary teacher under a temporary teacher's contract rather than as a substitute teacher?

2. Did the trial court err in granting the School's motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim upon which relief could be granted?

*412 We combine both issues for purposes of discussion.

DISCUSSION AND DECISION

The court did not err in granting the motion to dismiss.

It is well settled that a complaint may not be dismissed for failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted 1 unless it appears to a certainty on the face of the complaint that the complaining party is not entitled to any relief. Hoosier Plastics v. Westfield Savings & Loan Association, (1982) Ind.App., 433 N.E.2d 24, 27, trans. denied; Suyemasa v. Myers, (1981) Ind.App., 420 N.E.2d 1334, 1342. In ruling on a motion to dismiss for failure to state a claim, the lower court is required to view the complaint in a light most favorable to the non-moving party and with every in-tendment in his favor. Hoosier Plastics, 433 N.E.2d at 27. Accord Roberts v. State, (1974) 159 Ind.App. 456, 460, 307 N.E.2d 501, 508-04. The court may only look to the complaint, and well-pleaded material must be taken as admitted. Hoosier Plastics, 433 N.E.2d at 27. See also Hall-Hottel Co. v. Oxford Square Co-op., Inc., (1983) Ind.App., 446 N.E.2d 25, 28, trans. denied (court must resolve all inferences in favor of non-moving party); Pitts v. Mills, (1975) 165 Ind.App. 646, 660, 333 N.E.2d 897, 906 (facts alleged in complaint must be taken as true). As this court has previously noted:

"The basic purpose of a TR. 12(B)(6) motion to dismiss is to test the legal sufficiency of the complaint to state a redressable claim. Thus, the motion is properly utilized to test the legal sufficiency of the complaint; or stated differently, to test the law of the claim, not the facts that support it. [Citations omitted.]"

Anderson v. Anderson, (1979) Ind.App., 399 N.E.2d 391, 406. Where it appears to a certainty from the face of the complaint that the complaining party is not entitled to any relief, we will not reverse the judgment of the lower court in granting the motion to dismiss.

Paul's complaint states, in part:

"6. Plaintiff was not properly employed as a substitute teacher, and should have been employed as a temporary teacher under a Temporary Teacher's Contract, pursuant to 1.C. 20-6.1-4-7.
8. Pursuant to I.C. 20-6.1-4-7, Defendant was legally required to employ Plaintiff on a Temporary Teacher's Contract for the reason that she was serving in the absence of a teacher who had been granted a leave of absence by the school corporation."

Record at 7. The thrust of Paul's argument on appeal is, in essence, that the lower court did not properly construe the provisions of Indiana Code section 20-6.1-4-7 (1976). For the reasons which follow, we cannot agree.

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Paul v. Metropolitan School District of Lawrence Township, 455 N.E.2d 411, 14 Educ. L. Rep. 365, 1983 Ind. App. LEXIS 3502 (Ind. Ct. App. 1983).

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