Richards v. Sandusky Community Schools
Richards v. Sandusky Community Schools
Opinion of the Court
The plaintiff, Barbara Richards, was formerly a school bus driver for the defendant school system, working under defendant James Nolan. When she moved to a different community and was not hired as a school bus driver there, allegedly based on negative information in her Sandusky Schools employment file supplied by Nolan in response to a request from the prospective employer, she sued Nolan and the Sandusky school system, claiming a violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1983, based upon her First Amendment rights; a violation of the Michigan Whistleblowers Protection Act, Mich. Comp. Laws § 15.362; and defamation under Michigan state law.
In granting summary judgment to the defendants, the district court held, first, that the § 1983 claim based on violation of the plaintiffs asserted First Amendment rights could not be sustained because, although the speech involved was protected, the disciplinary action taken by Nolan was based on the plaintiffs violation of the school system’s confidentiality rule, not her complaint about the child’s spitting. The court also noted that if there were retaliation, it was only the subsequent employer, not the defendants, who could be said to have retaliated against the plaintiff. Second, the district court held that the claim under the Whistleblower Protection Act was time-barred because the complaint was not filed within 90 days of the plaintiffs resignation from the Sandusky school system. Finally, the court dismissed the defamation claim both for failure to show that the information released was faise and because the plaintiff had signed a release permitting disclosure of all information in her employment records.
Having had the benefit of oral argument, and having studied the record on appeal and the briefs of the parties, we are not persuaded that the district court erred in dismissing the complaint. Because the reasons why judgment should be entered for the defendants have been fully articulated by the district court, the issuance of a detailed opinion by this court would be duplicative and would serve no useful purpose. Accordingly, we AFFIRM the judgment of the district court upon the reasoning set out by that court in its opinion dated May 18, 2000.
Reference
- Full Case Name
- Barbara RICHARDS v. SANDUSKY COMMUNITY SCHOOLS and James R. Nolan, Superintendent
- Status
- Published