A federal judge has dismissed a retaliatory discharge lawsuit filed against the Franklin County Board of Education by a former Phil Campbell High School custodian.
U. S. district judge Lynwood Smith entered the order after finding that the plaintiff, Garry Reed, could not present a legally sufficient claim to support retaliation as alleged under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Reed began working for the Franklin County Board of Education on June 1, 2009 as a custodian at Phil Campbell High School, according to court records. Reed signed three employment contracts with Franklin County Schools, the last coming on September 1, 2011. Reed's employment contract contained a provision whereby he could be terminated for “incompetence, insubordination, neglect of duty, immorality, justifiable defense in the number of positions, or other good and just cause.”
Testimony and documents filed in the case indicate Reed's immediate supervisor was the Phil Campbell High School principal--William Smith at the time of Reed's original hiring and later Cindy Davis. Reed met with Davis and assistant superintendent Donald Borden during the summer of 2010 because of concerns Davis had about Reed's work performance, according to court documents.
Reed expressed concerns to Borden about Davis asking him to perform maintenance and repair jobs in addition to his janitorial duties. Court depositions show Reed was told by superintendent Gary Williams not to do maintenance work but “felt like he had to do it anyway because Davis and assistant superintendent Borden had told him to perform maintenance as well as janitorial tasks at the school.”
Difficulties between Reed and Davis continued to the point where Davis wrote a memo to Williams on May 11, 2011, recommending Reed be terminated.
Court documents indicate the matter of Reed's termination was placed on a board meeting agenda but later removed by Willams at the recommendation of board member Terry Welborn, who was also deposed in the case.
In March of 2012, Reed signed a sworn affidavit as part of federal employment discrimination lawsuit filed against the Franklin County Board of Education by two other employees, Resa Witt and Amy Moss.
According to sworn testimony, issues remained between Davis and Reed, and she again called for his resignation on May 9, 2012. This time Williams recommended termination, and the board voted to fire Reed on May 17, 2012.The termination came one day before Reed would have attained tenure pursuant to board policy.
Reed's lawsuit alleged that his termination resulted from signing affidavits in support of the other two employees' lawsuits against Franklin County Schools.
Reed's retaliation claim must include evidence of three separate elements: 1. That he engaged in statutorily protected expression; 2. He incurred an adverse employment action; 3. There is a causal link between the protected conduct and the adverse action.
“Davis first recommended the termination of plaintiff's employment in May of 2011, almost a year before plaintiff engaged in any protected activity, because plaintiff was not performing the tasks assigned to him, and because he had problems interacting with other employees,” the Court's September 10, 2015, ruling stated. “The fact that plaintiff engaged in protected activity approximately one-and-a-half months before his termination is not sufficient to establish a causal connection, because the Board had already begun to contemplate plaintiff's termination almost a year earlier."
As a result, the motion for summary judgment filed by Franklin County Schools was granted and Reed's lawsuit was dismissed.
When contacted Friday, Reed declined comment and indicated he would be in contact with his attorney to discuss appeal options. With an appeal possible, Williams did not specifically address the allegations contained in the lawsuit but did make the following statement Friday:
“I can confirm Mr. Reed's lawsuit was dismissed by the federal judge. We are pleased with the court's ruling and are ready to move on,” Williams said.
