St. Charles Parish School Board v. Taube

767 So. 2d 820, 0 La.App. 5 Cir. 224, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 1863, 2000 WL 1022380
CourtLouisiana Court of Appeal
DecidedJuly 25, 2000
DocketNo. 00-CA-224
StatusPublished
Cited by1 cases

This text of 767 So. 2d 820 (St. Charles Parish School Board v. Taube) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Louisiana Court of Appeal primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
St. Charles Parish School Board v. Taube, 767 So. 2d 820, 0 La.App. 5 Cir. 224, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 1863, 2000 WL 1022380 (La. Ct. App. 2000).

Opinion

| JASMINE Judge Pro Tempore.

The defendant-appellant, St. Charles Parish School Board, appeals from a trial court judgment making a writ of mandamus peremptory and ordering the defendant to return the plaintiff-appellee, John Taube, to Destrehan Senior High School where he was assigned as a teacher before taking sabbatical leave. For the following reasons, we affirm.

FACTS

According to the parties’ Joint Stipulation of Facts, plaintiff has been a teacher employed with the St. Charles Parish School Board (School Board) since 1985. During the 1997-98 school year, plaintiff taught gifted students at Destrehan Senior High School. The plaintiff requested and was granted sabbatical leave for the 1998-99 school year. Effective August 16, 1999, the School Board transferred Mr. Taube from Destrehan Senior High School and reassigned him to teach gifted students at four different schools. Mr. Taube’s pay or rank was not diminished by the transfer. While the plaintiff did not consent to | ¡¿he transfer, he reported to these schools in compliance with the School Board’s assignment.

On September 30, 1999, Mr. Taube filed a petition for a writ of mandamus to compel the School Board to return him to Destrehan Senior High School. After a hearing on October 21,1999, the trial court granted Mr. Taube’s request and ordered the School Board to return him to Destre-han Senior High School in accordance with LSA-R.S. 17:1182.

DISCUSSION

The School Board first contends the trial court improperly issued the writ of mandamus because the School Board has the discretion to transfer a teacher to a different school upon a teacher’s return from sabbatical leave. The plaintiff, however, urges that, according to LSA-R.S. 17:1182, the School Board has a non-discretionary, ministerial duty to return a teacher to the pre-sabbatical leave school. That statute provides as follows: “Return to same position. Every person on sabbatical leave shall be returned at the beginning of the semester immediately following such leave to the same position at the same school from which such leave was taken, unless otherwise agreed to by him.”

A writ of mandamus may be directed to a public officer to compel the performance of a ministerial duty that is required by law. LSA-C.C.P. arts. 3861, 3863. However, a writ of mandamus is properly issued only when the law provides no relief by ordinary means or when the delay involved in obtaining ordinary relief may cause injustice. LSA-C.C.P. art. 3862.

Thus, a writ of mandamus is appropriately issued against a public officer (1) when the public officer has refused to perform a ministerial duty that is clearly provided by law, and (2) when a mandamus is the only available remedy or the delay caused by the use of any other remedy would cause injustice. Both requirements must be met in order for a court to properly make a writ of mandamus peremptory. Regional Transit Authority v. Kahn, 99-2015 (La.App. 4 Cir. 8/26/99), 742 So.2d 960, 964, writ denied, 99-2595 (La.9/8/99), 749 So.2d 623. Despite the School Board’s [822]*822assertions to the contrary, we find that, under LSA-R.S. 17:1182, the School Board has a non-discretionary duty to return Mr. Taube to Destrehan Senior High School where he taught before taking sabbatical leave.

In support of its position that the decision to transfer a teacher is a discretionary power, the School Board cites LSA-R.S. 17:81(A)(1), which provides in pertinent part:

§ 81. General powers of city and parish school boards
Each city and parish school board shall determine the number of schools to be opened, the location of school houses, the number of teachers to be employed, and select teachers and all other certified personnel from recommendations made by the city or parish superintendent as required by this Subsection. The boards shall have authority to employ teachers by the month or by the year, and to fix their salaries....

The School Board argues that the authority to transfer, demote, or promote teachers is implicit in the powers provided by the above section, citing Louisiana Attorney General Opinion No. 93-654. However, we find the opinion inapposite, since it does not encompass the issue presently before this court.1

The School Board also contends that its discretionary right to transfer and to reassign teachers in the best interest of the pupils and the school system is |4well recognized, citing Slaughter v. East Baton Rouge Parish School Bd., 432 So.2d 905 (La.App. 1 Cir.1983); Rosenthal v. Orleans Parish School Bd., 214 So.2d 203 (La.App. 4 Cir.1968), writ refused, 252 La. 963, 215 So.2d 130 (1968) and a number of additional Attorney General opinions.2 We do not find any of these authorities to be persuasive.

Neither Slaughter nor Rosenthal addressed the issue of whether a teacher may be transferred to another school immediately after returning from sabbatical leave. Likewise, the Attorney General opinions cited by the School Board do not concern transferring a teacher to a different school following a sabbatical leave. We have recognized that the proper use of Attorney General opinions in the decision making process of a court is in an advisory capacity, and when the court is aware of no cases on point. Norris v. Guthrie, 618 So.2d 893, 895 (La.App. 5 Cir.1993). See also, Roy v. Avoyelles Parish School Bd., 552 So.2d 63, 65 (La.App. 3 Cir.1989).

Although the issue is one of first impression for this Circuit, we find Comeaux v. Iberia Parish School Bd., 597 So.2d 1263 (La.App. 3 Cir.1992) to be on point. In that case, the school board transferred a tenured teacher to a different school after she returned from sabbatical leave. The teacher obtained a preliminary injunction directing the school board to rescind the transfer and to return her to the pre-sabbatical school. The Third Circuit affirmed the trial court’s ruling, reasoning as follows:

La. C.C. Art. 9 states that when a law is clear and unambiguous and its application does not lead to absurd consequences, the law shall be applied as written and no further interpretation may be made in search of the intent of [823]*823the legislature. La.R.S. 17:1182 is not ambiguous. Its wording is simple and clear. It requires that a person coming off sabbatical leave must be returned to the same position at the same school from which the sabbatical leave was taken, unless that | ^person agrees otherwise .... While the purpose for such a statutory delay may not be readily apparent, and the delay may be an inconvenience for everybody concerned, the application of such a rule cannot be said to lead to an absurd consequence.

Id. at 1265 (emphasis as found in the original).

The language of LSA-R.S. 17:1182 is clear. The word “shall,” as included within the article, mandates that a teacher, who is returning from a sabbatical leave, must be returned “to the same position at the same school” from which the sabbatical leave was taken, unless that person agrees otherwise. We find that the district court properly issued the writ of mandamus because the requirements for that remedy were satisfied. The School Board, which refused to return Mr. Taube to his pre-sabbatical school, is a public entity and the return of Mr.

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Related

Taube v. St. Charles Parish School Board
787 So. 2d 377 (Louisiana Court of Appeal, 2001)

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767 So. 2d 820, 0 La.App. 5 Cir. 224, 2000 La. App. LEXIS 1863, 2000 WL 1022380, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/st-charles-parish-school-board-v-taube-lactapp-2000.