The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has overturned a jury’s decision in a case where a former coach was awarded damages after he claimed a school district refused to hire him for an opening because of a previous legal claim he had made against the school district.
The panel of judges found specifically that there was never an open position for which the plaintiff might have been hired, an obvious requirement in such cases.
Plaintiff Mike Adams began working for Groesbeck Independent School District, the defendant, in 1971 as a teacher and coach. In 1998, he and his wife Allison Adams, also a teacher and coach, worked at the Groesbeck middle school. Groesbeck requires that its coaches also teach.
The panel wrote that Groesbeck did not renew Mike Adams’s contract for the 2000-01 school year because of complaints regarding his coaching abilities. Adams’s position at the middle school was not filled, and the nonrenewal of his contract reduced the girls’ sports coaching staff from three to two. The remaining coaches for the 2000-01 school year were Allison Adams and Allen Grimes.
Mike Adams sued Groesbeck for violations of Title VII, ultimately settling the case in January 2001. The terms of the settlement specifically did not prohibit Adams from reapplying for employment with Groesbeck, added the panel.
Meanwhile, Allison Adams and Grimes continued their role as coaches until Groesbeck placed Grimes on administrative leave in October 2001. Groesbeck convinced several high school girls coaches to help Allison Adams with the middle school girls coaching responsibilities. Neverthless, Mike Adams assumed Grimes’ departure left a position, for which he applied.
In December 2001, Grimes resigned and Groesbeck officials met to decide how to address his teaching and coaching responsibilities for the Spring 2002 semester. The middle school principal, Karon Golden, decided that she would delay hiring a new teacher/coach to replace Grimes until the 2002-03 school year because she wanted extra time to analyze the middle school’s needs for the next year.
The panel noted that Groesbeck’s superintendent approved Golden’s suggestion. Groesbeck did not post a job announcement, review submitted applications, or interview anyone for a teacher/coach position in the Spring 2002 semester.
“Allison Adams complained to Athletic Director Richie Coutrer in February 2002 about Groesbeck’s handling of Grimes’s coaching responsibilities,” wrote the panel. “She believed Groesbeck should have hired another coach and stated that her husband, Mike Adams, had applied. Allison Adams testified that Coutrer told her that no qualified applicants had applied and that he could not hire Mike Adams because of his previous lawsuit. Coutrer disputed this testimony, however; he recalled telling Allison Adams that the school could not hire Mike Adams because there was no job opening, and he denied stating that Adams could not be hired because of his previous lawsuit.”
In April 2003, Adams sued Groesbeck under Title VII for not rehiring him, alleging that the school district had retaliated against him for filing his previous suit. The jury returned a verdict in his favor, and the court entered judgment. After the district court denied Groesbeck’s and Adams’s post-judgment motions, both parties appealed.
“To establish a Title VII retaliation case, Adams was required to prove that he engaged in protected activity; he suffered from an adverse employment action; and there was a causal connection between the activity and the adverse employment decision. Haynes v. Pennzoil Co., 207 F.3d 296, 299 (5th Cir. 2000). Post-trial, the McDonnell Douglas Corp. v. Green, 411 U.S. 792, 93 S. Ct. 1817, 36 L. Ed. 2d 668 (1973), framework becomes moot, and the question is whether legally sufficient evidence supported the jury’s finding in Adams’s favor. Bryant v. Compass Group USA Inc., 413 F.3d 471, 476 (5th Cir. 2005), cert. denied, 126 S. Ct. 1027, 163 L. Ed. 2d 855 (2006).
“Adams’s case was built on the contention that Groesbeck failed to hire him as a coach in the Spring 2002 Semester in retaliation for his previous successful Title VII suit against the district. His case breaks down if Groesbeck did not have an opening for a full-time middle school coach at that time.
“Adams asserts that the jury resolved disputed evidence and found that Groesbeck had an available position for a middle school teacher/coach commencing in October 2001 for which he applied. A careful review of the record shows differently. After Grimes was placed on administrative leave, the district did not post a job announcement, nor did its employees review resumes or interview any candidates to fill his position.”
Mike Adams v. Groesbeck Independent School District et al., 5th Cir.; No. 05-50362, 475 F.3d 688; 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 424; 1/9/07
Attorneys of Record: (for plaintiff) LaNelle Linnstaedter of McNamara, Waco, TX. (for defendant) Eric W Schulze, Bridget Ranee Robinson, Walsh, Anderson, Brown, Schulze, Austin, TX.
