Stofsky v. Pawling Central School Dist.

635 F.Supp.2d 272

Margaret STOFSKY and Eric Stofsky, Plaintiffs, v. PAWLING CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT, Pawling Central School District Board of Education, George Newman, individually and in his official capacity as Pawling Central School District Director of Special Services, Cheryl Thomas, individually and in her official capacity as Principal for the Pawling Central School District Middle School, Frank DeLuca, individually and in his official capacity as former Superintendent of Schools, Joseph Sciortino, individually and in his official capacity as Superintendent of Schools, Pauline Kaplan, individually and in her capacity as President of the Pawling Central School District Board of Education, Frank Tolan, individually and in his official capacity as Principal of Pawling Central School District's High School, and 1-100 Unknown Administrators of the Pawling Central School District, individually and in their official capacity, Defendants.

Case No. 06-CV-10231 (KMK).

United States District Court, S.D. New York.

March 27, 2009.

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Peter David Hoffman, Esq., Law Office of Peter D. Hoffman, P.C., Katonah, NY, for Plaintiff.

Gregg Tyler Johnson, Esq., Jacinda Hall Conboy, Esq., Scott Patrick Quesnel, Esq., Girvin & Ferlazzo, P.C., Albany, NY, for Defendants.

OPINION AND ORDER

KENNETH M. KARAS, District Judge:

Margaret Stofsky ("Plaintiff") brings this action alleging, inter alia, discrimination and retaliation in connection with her former employment as a school psychologist in the Pawling Central School District (the "District"), seeking relief against the District and the District's Board of Education (the "Board") (together, the "District Defendants"), as well as against several former and current District administrators (the "Individual Defendants"). Following dismissal of several of Plaintiff's claims by Judge Colleen McMahon, to whom this case was originally assigned,¹ Plaintiff's remaining claims are causes of action (1) against the District Defendants for gender and age discrimination and harassment, pursuant to Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VII"), 42 U.S.C. § 2000e et seq., and the Age Discrimination in Employment Act ("ADEA"), 29 U.S.C. § 621 et seq.; (2) against the District Defendants for retaliation occurring after July 28, 2005, pursuant to Title VII, the ADEA, and the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 12101 et seq.; and (3) against all Defendants for denial of equal protection, pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 ("Section 1983"). Defendants moved for summary judgment, and Plaintiff and Defendants also moved in limine to exclude from trial certain expert testimony on the issue of damages. For the reasons stated herein, Defendants' motion for summary judgment is granted, and the motions to exclude testimony are denied as moot.

I. Background

A. Facts

1. Plaintiff's Hiring and Job Duties

Plaintiff was hired by the District as a School Psychologist beginning September 1, 1993. (Defs.' Statement of Material Facts Pursuant to Local Rule 56.1 ("Defs.' 56.1") ¶ 1.) At the time, she was forty-three years old. (Decl. of Peter Hoffman in Opp'n to Defs.' Mot. for Summ. J. ("Hoffman Decl.") Ex. A (Dep. of Margaret Stofsky ("Pl. Dep.") 31).) The hiring committee considering Plaintiff's application included Frank Tolan, who served as Principal of the District's High School throughout Plaintiff's employment with the District (Aff. of Frank Tolan in Supp. of Defs.' Mot. for Summ. J. ("Tolan Aff.") ¶ 1), and Karen Arnhold-Falanga, who was a School Psychologist for the District. (Pl. Dep. 30.)

From the beginning of Plaintiff's employment with the District through the 2003-04 school year, the District employed two School Psychologists, Plaintiff and Arnhold-Falanga. (Defs.' 56.1 ¶¶ 36-37.) Plaintiff was responsible for the High School, Arnhold-Falanga was responsible for the Elementary School, and Plaintiff and Arnhold-Falanga were each responsible for "half of the Middle School caseload." (Aff. of George Newman in Supp. of Defs.' Mot. for Summ. J. ("Newman Aff.") ¶ 3.) As of September 2001, following the construction of the new Middle School (Aff. of Cheryl Thomas in Supp. of Defs.' Mot. for Summ. J. ("Thomas Aff.") ¶ 15), the High School covered grades 9 through 12, and the Middle School covered grades 5 through 8. (Pl. Dep. 100.)

The duties and responsibilities of a School Psychologist are outlined in a job description produced by the District. (Aff. of Matthew Crandell in Supp. of Defs.' Mot. for Summ. J. ("Crandell Aff.") ¶ 6.) As members of the District's Special Education staff, School Psychologists report to the Director of Special Education, who may assign them unspecified "appropriate responsibilities" in addition to those specified in the job description. (Crandell Aff. Ex. O (Job Description), 1, 3.) School Psychologists are appointed to serve on Child Study Teams, the District Committee on Special Education ("CSE"), and other District-wide committees. (Id. 1.) They carry out testing, including "Psychological and Triennial evaluations," for the CSE, "perform counseling evaluations as recommended by the Child Study Teams," meet with parents to explain test results, and "act as `case manager' [for] students referred to the CSE." (Id. 2.) School Psychologists work with teachers and other staff "to develop behavior modification plans or consult in other appropriate areas," work with parents "as needed to develop realistic expectations of children's progress," meet with parents "when issues surface in classrooms," and "may be requested to provide inservice on clinical issues for teaching staff." (Id.) They also counsel students, either individually or in small groups. (Id.) Finally, School Psychologists "provide[] the initial intervention and direction when a crisis occurs," and "may be requested to intervene with at-risk students in special situations." (Id. 3.)

2. Concerns With Plaintiff's Job Performance Prior to the 2004-05 School Year

According to Tolan, Plaintiff "failed to keep appropriate records pertaining to students she counseled" for "several years prior to June 2004." (Tolan Aff. ¶ 4.) Tolan also received complaints from parents and teachers of special education students that Plaintiff was not counseling students in accordance with their Individualized Educational Plans ("IEPs"). (Id.) Some parents even asked that their children not be counseled by Plaintiff. (Id.) At some point prior to the 2004-05 school year, Tolan expressed his concerns about Plaintiff to then-Superintendent Frank DeLuca, who advised Tolan "to develop an accountability system to help [Plaintiff] improve, and to ensure that she was complying with her job requirements." (Aff. of Frank DeLuca in Supp. of Defs.' Mot. for Summ. J. ("DeLuca Aff.") ¶ 4.)

Tolan worked with Plaintiff "to develop a system for scheduling and evaluating students that would help her organize her tasks," and held several meetings with Plaintiff and a union representative to discuss Plaintiff's schedule. (Tolan Aff. ¶ 5.) According to Tolan, Plaintiff was "reluctant to change her practices" and "questioned [Tolan] as to why [Tolan] needed counseling records from her." (Id.) Tolan told Plaintiff that he "required all teachers to maintain lesson plans ... [and] all guidance counselors to turn in records of students they counseled, and thus, it was a matter of consistent practice that the school psychologists turn in records of students they counseled." (Id.)

George Newman, who in March 2003 became the District's Director of Special Education and therefore Plaintiff's supervisor, considered Plaintiff to be a "very bright" and knowledgeable School Psychologist who wrote "very good" reports. (Hoffman Decl. Ex. O (Dep. of George Newman ("Newman Dep.") 91).) However, Newman was concerned that Plaintiff "had been failing to submit psychological reports and student progress reports in a timely manner" and "was repeatedly missing counseling sessions with students who were assigned to her." (Newman Aff. ¶ 4.) Newman was informed at one point that Plaintiff had missed 157 counseling sessions with students. (Id.) Tolan told Newman that Plaintiff "was not completing the required testing for special education students" and also "missed numerous counseling sessions." (Id. ¶ 5.) Newman met with Plaintiff during the 2003-04 school year "to discuss these concerns, and to talk to her about how to manage her time more effectively." (Id. ¶ 4.)

At Plaintiff's deposition, she described a series of work-related conflicts involving herself and Tolan. According to Plaintiff, during her employment with the District, "people who had authority over [her]," including Tolan, "would talk to [her] in loud or rude and disrespectful ways." (Pl. Dep. 128.) In November 2003, Plaintiff attended a meeting at which Tolan and Newman were also present, where Tolan "accused [Plaintiff] of dumping some responsibility on him" with respect to a particular Middle School student.² (Id. 152-53.) At unspecified times, Tolan "screamed" at Plaintiff, accused Plaintiff of lying, told Plaintiff that she was not worth the salary she was making and that he would like to spend it elsewhere, and walked by Plaintiff's office to check up on her. (Id. 133.) Tolan also warned Plaintiff that he would tell the "special ed directors" that Plaintiff was not doing what Tolan wanted her to do and was not counseling students in accordance with their IEPs; according to Plaintiff, Tolan did in fact tell the special ed directors these things. (Id. 134.) During unspecified staff meetings, Tolan would interrupt Plaintiff. (Id. 135.) At some point, Tolan ordered Plaintiff to find a certain student, and when Plaintiff could not locate the student, Tolan yelled at Plaintiff in presence of secretaries. (Id. 135-36.) Plaintiff...