Sneed v. Barna

912 P.2d 1035, 80 Wash. App. 843
CourtCourt of Appeals of Washington
DecidedFebruary 2, 1996
DocketNo. 17889-3-II
StatusPublished
Cited by42 cases

This text of 912 P.2d 1035 (Sneed v. Barna) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Court of Appeals of Washington primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Sneed v. Barna, 912 P.2d 1035, 80 Wash. App. 843 (Wash. Ct. App. 1996).

Opinion

Bridgewater, J.

This case requires us to decide whether a reassignment from elementary school principal to Administrator for At-Risk Students constituted an "adverse action.” We hold that the assignment, which maintained Emma Sneed at her current salary, was not an adverse change in her contract status pursuant to stat[845]*845ute, and that the facts surrounding her new position do not support a constructive discharge claim as a matter of law. We affirm.

Sneed appeals a summary judgment dismissing her suit that challenged her transfer from principal to the Administrator for At-Risk Students in the Tacoma Public School District. Sneed voluntarily quit shortly after the transfer and then sued the District, alleging violations of statutory procedures and her due process rights along with a claim of constructive discharge.

The District employed Sneed as a principal for nine years total and as principal of Sheridan Elementary School, her last assignment as a principal, from 1987-1990. Her mid-year evaluation for the 1989-90 school year was "[ujnsatisfactory.” Then, on May 11, 1990, a meeting took place among Sneed, Personnel Director Willie Stewart, and Superintendent Lillian Barna. The parties dispute certain facts surrounding this meeting.

At the meeting, Barna offered Sneed the newly-created position of Administrator for At-Risk Students. At the time she offered Sneed the position, Barna did not have a description of the position and did not know what credentials would be required for the job, although she did want someone who was knowledgeable with at-risk students and who had administrative skills. Sneed accepted the position.

Sneed acknowledged receipt of a letter drafted by Barna stating that Sneed’s transfer was due to two factors: first, because the District needed someone in that position and Sneed was interested in that work; and second, because Sneed’s work as principal had not been satisfactory in certain areas. Her annual evaluation for the 1989-90 school year, also received on May 11, was ”[n]eeds improvement.”

Sneed alleges that at the meeting she was told by Barna that if she did not accept the position, she would be discharged. Sneed also alleges that she was forced to sign [846]*846the letter and that she was not afforded any time to think about accepting the position. Conversely, the District states that Barna merely offered Sneed the position and Sneed accepted. The District maintains that if Sneed had objected to the transfer, Sneed would have been reassigned as a principal at another school.

During the summer of 1990, Sneed took office as the Administrator for At-Risk Students. Although Sneed testified that she started using her new office in the "latter part of June” 1990, she was unclear about how long she worked as administrator before resigning because she had a vacation period during that time. When Sneed resigned on August 31, payroll records showed that Sneed had worked as administrator for only eight days.

Sneed’s salary and classification as a principal remained the same after the transfer. But Sneed maintains her new position was "[hjumiliating and [intolerable” after being a principal. She contends that her new office, which had been used as a storage space for three to four years, was dusty, small, noisy and caused her headaches and nasal congestion, although a humidifier later furnished by the District helped alleviate some of these problems; and that the District expected her to help register students on opening day, which she considered to be a low-level administrative task, even though she admitted that sometimes administrators from the main office helped out with registration. She also alleges that she was forced to borrow or share a secretary and supplies; and that she received no guidance as to budget, assistance, strategy or support. Sneed maintains that she resigned her position on August 31, 1990, because she was being treated in a demeaning and humiliating manner.

Sneed sued the District based upon a number of causes of action, including that: (1) the District’s actions constituted an adverse change in her contract status without proper notice and an opportunity for a hearing in violation of RCW 28A.405.300; (2) the District deprived her of her job without due process of law; and (3) the District [847]*847constructively discharged her in violation of her contract. The trial court granted the District’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed Sneed’s complaint.1

In reviewing a summary judgment, an appellate court engages in the same analysis as the trial court: a motion for summary judgment is properly granted if the moving party shows that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to a judgment as a matter of law. The appellate court considers the facts in the light most favorable to the nonmoving party. Bowles v. Department of Retirement Sys., 121 Wn.2d 52, 62, 847 P.2d 440 (1993); CR 56(c).

I

Sneed argues that the trial court erred in granting summary judgment because she failed to receive adequate notice and an opportunity for a hearing based upon three statutes. First, she argues that her "transfer” to Administrator of At-Risk students constitutes an adverse change in contract status without notice and without the opportunity for a hearing, in violation of RCW 28A.405.300.

Second, Sneed argues that her transfer constituted a nonrenewal of her contract without both notice of probable cause and an opportunity for a hearing, in violation of RCW 28A.405.210. But Sneed never claimed a violation of RCW 28A.405.210 before the trial court, and an argument that was neither pleaded nor argued to the trial court cannot be raised for the first time on appeal. Woodcreek Land Ltd. Partnerships v. City of Puyallup, 69 Wn. App. 1, 11, 847 P.2d 501 (1993).

Third, Sneed argues that because she was a tenured principal, she could not be transferred under RCW 28A.405.230. Our holding with regard to this statute is [848]*848dispositive as to all claims except for the constructive discharge claim.

RCW 28A.405.2302 prohibits principals with three or more years’ experience from being transferred to a "subordinate certificated position.” A subordinate certificated position is defined by the statute as "any administrative or nonadministrative certificated position for which the annual compensation is less than the position currently held by the administrator.'” RCW 28A.405.230 (emphasis added).

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Bluebook (online)
912 P.2d 1035, 80 Wash. App. 843, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/sneed-v-barna-washctapp-1996.