Leighton v. Madison Cent. Sch. Dist.

DEBRA LEIGHTON, Plaintiff, v. MADISON CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT #39-2, Defendant.

4:16-CV-04079-RAL

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF SOUTH DAKOTA SOUTHERN DIVISION

September 28, 2018

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART DEFENDANT'S MOTIONS FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT

Plaintiff Debra Leighton sued her employer Madison Central School District (MCSD) under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq. Doc. 1. She asserted claims for disparate treatment because of sex, discriminatory failure to hire, and retaliation. Doc. 1. She also sought compensatory and punitive damages. Doc. 1. MCSD moved for summary judgment on all claims, Doc. 29, or, in the alternative, summary judgment on Leighton's claim for punitive damages, Doc. 36. This Court grants MCSD summary judgment on the disparate treatment and retaliation claims because Leighton did not engage in protected conduct and the disparate treatment claim is merely a repackaged retaliation claim. Summary judgment is also appropriate on the punitive damages claim because Title VII does not allow plaintiffs to recover punitive damages from a school district like MCSD. This Court denies MCSD's motion for summary judgment on the failure-to-hire claim, however, because there is a material question of fact concerning whether gender played a role in MCSD's hiring decision.

I. Facts

Leighton began working for MCSD in 2012, when she was hired as a part-time teacher at the Gracevale Hutterite Colony (Gracevale). Doc. 34 at ¶ 3; Doc. 41 at ¶ 3; Doc. 32 at ¶ 3. Gracevale, which is located within MCSD's boundaries, had a lengthy partnership with MCSD under which MCSD operated a rural school near Gracevale to provide K-8 schooling for Gracevale children. Doc. 34 at ¶ 11; Doc. 41 at ¶ 11; Doc. 40 at ¶ 17; Doc. 49 at ¶ 1. Vince Schaefer, MCSD's superintendent, delegated most of the responsibility for leadership and staff supervision at the Gracevale school to Cotton Koch, the middle school principal for MCSD. Doc. 40 at ¶ 18; Doc. 49 at ¶ 1.

MCSD hired Leighton as one of two full-time teachers at the Gracevale school for the 2013-2014 school year. Doc. 34 at ¶ 5; Doc. 41 at ¶ 5. When Koch informed Leighton of MCSD's decision, she was extremely happy and expressed her emotions by hugging him. Doc. 34 at ¶ 9; Doc. 41 at ¶ 9. Leighton was to teach grades K-3 while Amy Andersen, the other full-time teacher at the Gracevale school, would teach grades 4-8. Doc. 34 at ¶ 10; Doc. 41 at ¶ 10; Doc. 40 at ¶¶ 21, 23; Doc. 49 at ¶ 1.

Problems developed at the Gracevale school in early 2014. Doc. 34 at ¶ 12; Doc. 41 at ¶ 12. Gracevale was satisfied with Leighton, but had complaints about Andersen's teaching. Doc. 40 at ¶¶ 24, 28; Doc. 49 at ¶ 1; Doc. 32 at ¶ 5. One Gracevale representative even asked that Andersen be fired. Doc. 40 at ¶ 27; Doc. 49 at ¶ 2. MCSD also learned that Gracevale was dividing and that approximately half of the Gracevale students would be moving to a colony in the Rutland school district for the upcoming 2014-2015 school year. Doc. 40 at ¶ 20; Doc. 49 at ¶ 1.

On or about February 5, 2014,¹ Koch held a meeting with Leighton and Andersen to address problems at the Gracevale school and to encourage Leighton and Andersen to get along better, support each other, and follow the chain of command. Doc. 34 at ¶¶ 13-14; Doc. 41 at ¶¶ 13-14. During the meeting, Koch referred to Leighton as a "princess" because of how Gracevale thought she could do no wrong. Doc. 34 at ¶ 17; Doc. 41 at ¶ 17; Doc. 40 at ¶ 29; Doc. 50 at ¶ 2; Doc. 43-1 at 3. Koch also told Andersen that he would continue to support her, which prompted Andersen to kiss Koch's hand and declare that he was "the best boss ever." Doc. 40 at ¶ 30; Doc. 49 at ¶ 1; Doc. 34 at ¶ 15; Doc. 41 at ¶ 15. The kissing incident lasted no more than a few seconds and was not initiated by Koch. Doc. 34 at ¶ 16; Doc. 41 at ¶ 16.

On February 10, 2014, Koch gave Leighton a written evaluation of a class he saw her teach. Doc. 40 at ¶ 32; Doc. 49 at ¶ 1. The evaluation was.positive, with Koch telling Leighton "[g]reat job" and thanking her "for all the work you do for our students." Doc. 40 at ¶ 32; Doc. 49 at ¶ 1; Doc. 43-7. On February 20, 2014, Leighton met with Koch to discuss her concerns about Andersen and what had occurred during the February 5, 2014 meeting. Doc. 40 at ¶ 34; Doc. 49 at ¶ 2; Doc. 43-3 at 2. Among other things, Leighton told Koch that she had been offended when Koch called her a princess and when Andersen kissed Koch's hand. Doc. 40 at ¶ 34; Doc. 49 at ¶ 2.² Koch replied that he did not mean the princess comment in a negative way, that he did not think anything of the kissing incident, and that Leighton would need to get over it. Doc. 40 at ¶ 35; Doc. 49 at ¶ 2. According to Leighton, she told Koch that she was unsatisfied with his responses and wanted to take her complaints about Andersen to Schaefer; Koch replied that Leighton was not allowed to speak to Schaefer about Andersen, and that if he found out that she had, he would terminate heron the spot. Doc. 40 at ¶ 36.³ Koch denies threatening to terminate Leighton and saying she could not speak to Schaefer. Doc. 50 at ¶ 3. While Koch contends that he lacks the authority to fire Leighton, Doc. 50 at ¶ 3, Leighton asserts that she found Koch's alleged threat realistic because he had the authority to recommend her nonrenewal and because MCSD placed deference on administrative recommendations, Doc. 40 at ¶ 37; Doc. 43-1 at 18; Doc. 43-2 at 7.

On March 10, 2014, the MCSD school board approved a reduction in force (RIF) eliminating five teaching positions for the 2014-2015 school year, including Andersen's and Leighton's positions at the Gracevale school. Doc. 34 at ¶ 26; Doc. 41 at ¶ 26; Doc. 40 at ¶ 39; Doc. 43-11; Doc. 31 at ¶ 9; Doc. 31-3 at 4. The collective bargaining agreement between the MCSD and the Madison Education Association contained a provision regarding a RIF. Doc. 34 at ¶ 24; Doc. 41 at ¶ 24. Loss of student enrollment is the usual reason for employing the RIF procedure. Doc. 34 at ¶ 25; Doc. 41 at ¶ 25; Doc. 32 at ¶ 8. The reason given for the March 2014 RIF was that Gracevale was splitting and that the MCSD would thus lose about half of the students it served at the Gracevale school. Doc. 40 at ¶ 40; Doc. 43-2 at 4; Doc. 31 at ¶ 8; Doc. 34 at ¶ 25; Doc. 41 at ¶ 25. Leighton contends that Koch "had a part in the RIF analysis." Doc. 40 at ¶ 42. Koch submitted an affidavit saying that he had nothing to do with the RIF, but that he did "provideinformation that based on what we knew at the time, only 15 students would be returning to school at Gracevale." Doc. 50 at ¶ 4.

MCSD contends that "within several weeks" of the RIF, it reclassified certain positions such that MCSD could continue supplying two teachers to Gracevale for the 2014-2015 school year. Doc. 34 at ¶ 28; Doc. 41 at ¶ 28. There is some disagreement about when MCSD began advertising for these positions. According to Leighton, MCSD posted a job for one full-time K-8 teacher at the Gracevale school shortly after the RIF. Doc. 40 at ¶ 47. The closing date to apply for this position was March 28, 2014. Doc. 40 at ¶ 47. Leighton sent an undated letter to Koch and Schaefer saying that she would not be applying for the position because she did not believe that one teacher could meet the requirements of the job description. Doc. 32-1; Doc. 43-16; Doc. 40 at ¶ 48. Leighton contends that on April 1, 2014, she saw that MCSD had posted the following three jobs for the 2014-2015 school year: a full-time Title 1 and ELL teacher at the Gracevale school; a full-time K-8 teacher at the Gracevale school; and a junior kindergarten teacher at the MCSD main campus. Doc. 40 at ¶ 49; Doc. 43-18; Doc. 43-17; Doc. 43-32. MCSD claims that it posted the K-8 position on March 14, 2014, and that the applications for that position were due by March 28.⁴ Doc. 34 at ¶ 30; Doc. 32 at ¶ 9. MCSD claims that it posted the Title I and ELL position on April 4, 2014, and that this position closed on April 17, 2014.⁵ Doc. 34 at ¶ 31; Doc. 32 at ¶ 9.

On April 3, 2014, Leighton met with Koch to inquire about the K-8 and Title 1 positions at the Gracevale school. Doc. 40 at ¶ 54; Doc. 49 at ¶ 2; Doc. 43-32 at 1-2. Koch informed Leighton that he was looking for someone who did not clash with the Gracevale leadership. Doc. 40 at ¶ 54; Doc. 49 at ¶ 2. On April 14, 2014, Leighton applied for the two teaching positions at the Gracevale school and the junior kindergarten position at the MCSD main campus. Doc. 40 at ¶ 55; Doc. 43-20. Koch acknowledged during his deposition that Leighton's application was sufficient and that he knew she was applying for the three teaching positions as of April 14, 2014.⁶ Doc. 40 at ¶ 56; Doc. 49 at ¶ 2; Doc. 43-1 at 8-9.

Koch selected himself and two teachers he supervised to act as the hiring committee for the Gracevale positions. Doc. 40 at ¶ 60; Doc. 50 at ¶ 7; Doc. 43-1 at 9. Koch had the authority to choose whom to interview and to conduct the interviews with the two other members of the committee. Doc. 40 at ¶ 58; Doc. 50 at ¶ 6; Doc. 43-1 at 11, 13. Koch's testimony suggests that he alone chose whom to interview for the Gracevale positions, Doc. 43-1 at 11, 13, but he submitted a later affidavit stating that the other two members of the hiring committee could also determine which candidates to interview, Doc. 50 at ¶ 6. Under the usual hiring process for MCSD, the hiring committee would recommend a candidate to the superintendent, the superintendent would send the recommendation to the school board if he approved of thecandidate, and the school board would then make the final hiring decision. Doc. 34 at ¶ 38; Doc. 41 at ¶ 38.

Although Koch had given Leighton a "Meets Standards" rating for the 2013-2014 school year, Doc. 40 at ¶ 51; Doc. 49 at ¶ 2, he decided not to interview Leighton for any of the teaching positions, Doc. 40 at ¶ 61; Doc. 50 at ¶ 8; Doc. 43-1 at 13...