Montanye v. Wissahickon School Dist.

399 F.Supp.2d 615

Sallie K. MONTANYE, Plaintiff, v. WISSAHICKON SCHOOL DISTRICT, Wissahickon School District Board of Directors; and Stanley J. Durtan, Superintendent of Schools, Defendants.

No. 02-8537.

United States District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania.

November 3, 2005.

COPYRIGHT MATERIAL OMITTED

Sarah B. Dragotta, Law Office of Sarah B. Dragotta, Glenside, PA, for Plaintiff.

Joshua B. Axelrod, Michael I. Levin, Stacy G. Smith, Levin Legal Group, P.C., Huntingdon Valley, PA, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM

DuBOIS, District Judge.

I. INTRODUCTION

Plaintiff, Sallie K. Montanye, a special education teacher in the Wissahickon School District (the "District"), filed this suit against the District, the Wissahickon School District Board of Directors (the "School Board"), Stanley J. Durtan, School District Superintendent ("Superintendent Durtan"), and the individual members of the School Board under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 and Article I § 26 of the Pennsylvania Constitution. The individual members of the School Board were dismissed as defendants by Memorandum and Order dated August 11, 2003. See Montanye v. Wissahickon School Dist., 2003 WL 22096122 (E.D.Pa. Aug.11, 2003). In her Third Amended Complaint, plaintiff alleges that the remaining defendants violated her right to equal protection under the law. Currently before the Court is Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment. For the reasons set forth below, Defendants' Motion is granted on the ground that plaintiff has failed to establish an equal protection claim.

II. FACTS

The facts of this case are set forth in detail in a previous opinion in this case, Montanye v. Wissahickon School Dist., 327 F.Supp.2d 510 (E.D.Pa.2004); therefore only the facts necessary to the summary judgment decision are included in this memorandum.

Plaintiff has been employed as a special education teacher by the District since 1994. Stipulations ¶ 1. In the 2001-2002 school year, she was assigned to the Wissahickon High School (the "School"). Id. ¶ 2. K., a 14-year old special education student in the ninth grade, was placed in plaintiffs classroom. Id. ¶ 6. K. had a history of emotional and psychological problems, which persisted during the 2001-2002 year. K. Dep. at 13:8-10, Pl. Ex. 85; WIN Team Student Log, Pl.Ex. 5.

In January 2002, plaintiffs classroom aide found a note written by K. expressing suicidal thoughts. Suicide Note, Pl.Ex. 1; Montanye Dep. at 7:2-16, Def. Ex. 46. The aide gave the note to plaintiff, who in turn showed it to Robert Anderson, the School principal ("Principal Anderson"). Montanye Dep. at 7:9-9:5. After speaking with K. and receiving the oral consent of K.'s mother, plaintiff found an outside psychologist, Dr. Sharron Rex, for K. to see. Montanye Dep. at 12:21-15:3; Montanye Aff. 116, Def. Ex. 4. In agreeing to see the psychologist, K. requested that plaintiff join her. Montanye Dep. at 25:18-19. With the verbal permission of K.'s mother, plaintiff drove K. to two therapy appointments, and attended both sessions with her. Montanye Aff. ¶ 13-14. Principal Anderson was aware that plaintiff made the therapy appointments and drove K. to the psychologist's office. Id. ¶ 16.

On March 19, 2002, the School "WIN team," a group of School staff members designated to assist "at risk" students, sent an unsigned letter to Principal Anderson and Judith Clark, the District's Assistant Superintendent, in which they questioned the appropriateness of plaintiff's interactions with K. WIN Team Letter, Def. Ex. 2. On May 1, 2002, pursuant to the due process requirements of Cleveland Bd. of Education v. Loudermill, 470 U.S. 532, 105 S.Ct. 1487, 84 L.Ed.2d 494 (1985), Superintendent Durtan sent plaintiff notice of a Loudermill hearing regarding her interactions with K. Notice of Allegations Letter, Def. Ex. 3. At the Loudermill hearing on May 23, 2002, plaintiff was represented by counsel. Montanye Dep. at 76:7-9. After the hearing, on June 3, 2002, Superintendent Durtan issued plaintiff a "Notice of Directives" letter (the "Directives letter"). Notice of Directives Letter, Def. Ex. 8. The letter informed plaintiff that her actions constituted "significant wrongdoing" and directed plaintiff to attend "an appropriate seminar or training session." Id. at 1. The letter also directed plaintiff to refrain from conduct not "expressly required or reasonably implied" by plaintiff's job; to comply with the laws and school district policies related to evaluating and referring students; and to follow specific procedures if plaintiff engaged in conduct with a student outside of her status as a teacher. Id. at 2-3. Plaintiff has been on leave from the District since the end of the 2002 school year. Exhaustion of Current Leave Letter, Def. Ex. 10; Sabbatical Letter, Def. Ex. 16.

III. PROCEDURAL HISTORY

Plaintiff filed suit on November 19, 2002. In the original complaint, plaintiff named the District, the School Board, the individual members of the School Board, and Superintendent Durtan as defendants. The individual members of the School Board were later dismissed as defendants.

Count One of plaintiff's Third Amended Complaint alleges that defendants violated her right to equal protection of the law under the Fourteenth Amendment. Compl. 1153. Count Two alleges an equal protection violation under the Pennsylvania Constitution, Art. I § 26. Id. ¶ 64. Plaintiff alleges that the District's actions resulted in her constructive discharge because she cannot return to work without facing "immediate discharge" under Superintendent Durtan's directives. Id. ¶ 42. Furthermore, plaintiff claims that she cannot find a position outside the District because the Directives letter remains in her employment file at the District. Id. ¶ 44.

Defendants moved to dismiss the Third Amended complaint pursuant to F.R.C.P. 12(b)(6) for failing to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. In an opinion dated March 17, 2004, this Court denied defendants' motion. Montanye v. Wissahickon School Dist., 327 F.Supp.2d 510 (E.D.Pa.2004).

IV. DISCUSSION

A. Standard for Summary Judgment

A court should grant summary judgment if "the pleadings, depositions, answers to interrogatories, and admissions on file, together with the affidavits, if any, show that there is no genuine issue as to any material fact and that the moving party is entitled to judgment as a matter of law." F.R.C.P. 56(c); Celotex Corp. v. Catrett, 477 U.S. 317, 322, 106 S.Ct. 2548, 91 L.Ed.2d 265 (1986). A "genuine" issue exists if "the evidence is such that a reasonable jury could return a verdict for the nonmoving party." Anderson v. Liberty Lobby, Inc., 477 U.S. 242, 248, 106 S.Ct. 2505, 91 L.Ed.2d 202 (1986). A factual dispute is "material" when it "might affect the outcome of the suit under the governing law." Id.

"In determining the facts, the court should draw all reasonable inferences in favor of the nonmoving party." Id. at 255, 106 S.Ct. 2505; Highlands Ins. Co. v. Hobbs Group, LLC, 373 F.3d 347, 351 (3d Cir.2004). The nonmoving party, however cannot rely merely upon bare assertions, conclusory allegations, or suspicions to support a claim. Fireman's Ins. Co. v. DuFresne, 676 F.2d 965, 969 (3d Cir. 1982); see also Anderson, 477 U.S. at 249-50, 106 S.Ct. 2505 (stating that summary judgment must be granted if the evidence is "merely colorable" or "not significantly probative"). In a summary judgment motion, the moving party has the initial burden of identifying evidence which demonstrates the absence of a genuine issue of material fact. However, where the nonmoving party bears the burden of proof, it must "make a showing sufficient to establish the existence of [every] element essential to that party's case." Equimark Commercial Finance Co. v. C.I.T. Financial Services Corp., 812 F.2d 141, 144 (3d Cir.1987), citing Celotex, 477 U.S. at 323-24, 106 S.Ct. 2548. As this Court noted in denying defendants' Motion to Dismiss in this case, "to survive a motion for summary judgment and ultimately prevail at trial, plaintiff will have to offer an ascending quantum of proof that defendants' actions were not rationally related to a legitimate government purpose and plead sufficient facts to support that contention." Montanye, 327 F.Supp.2d at 520.

B. Equal Protection "Class of One"

Plaintiff's equal protection allegation is based on a "class of one" theory which allows a plaintiff who does not allege discrimination on the basis of membership in a protected class to pursue an equal protection claim. The United States Supreme Court has recognized that the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment grants every person protection from "intentional and arbitrary discrimination" by state agents. Village of Willowbrook v. Olech, 528 U.S. 562, 564, 120 S.Ct. 1073, 145 L.Ed.2d 1060 (2000) (per curiam). A plaintiff asserting a "class of one" claim must show that: (1) defendants, acting under color of state law, intentionally treated plaintiff differently from others similarly situated; and (2) there is no rational basis for the difference in treatment. Id.; Jackson v. Gordon, 145 Fed.Appx. 774, 776-77 (3d Cir.2005); Willis v. Town of Marshall, 426 F.3d 251, 263-64 (4th Cir.2005); Montanye v. Wissahickon School Dist., 327 F.Supp.2d 510, 518 (E.D.Pa.2004). The "class of one" claim was intended for what the Seventh Circuit has recently called the "paradigmatic case," where a public official, with no conceivable basis for his action, penalizes a hapless private citizen. Lauth v. McCollum, 424 F.3d 631, 633 (7th Cir.2005). "As one moves away from the paradigmatic case, the sense of a wrong of constitutional dignity, and of a need for a federal remedy, attenuates. And when as in this case the unequal treatment arises out of the employment relation, the case for federal judicial intervention in the name of equal protection is especially thin." Id.

In Olech, the district court granted a motion to dismiss in a class of one case on the ground that the...