ADVERSE EMPLOYMENT ACTIONS AND PUBLIC SCHOOL ...

earing on his non-renewal. Second, the board proclaimed that the current superintendent, who
strongly urged Ratliff’s non-renewal, was not the same superintendent as in 1982. Moreover, the
current superintendent was not aware of the speech until the lawsuit arose. Third, there was
evidence of Ratliff’s poor job performance to support the board’s decision.
Ratliff countered that prior to the speech he had never received a negative evaluation. His
written evaluations supported this claim. He also noted that he was persuaded during a 4-hour
session with the board not to resign prior to the 1982-1983 school year. The discrepancy in board
behavior before and after the speech was justification enough for the court to affirm the trial
court’s refusal to grant judgment notwithstanding the verdict.
To return to the earlier point about awarding damages based on the intrinsic value of the
right violated, the board argued that this direction was not permissible. Here the board was
correct based on the judgment in Memphis Community School District v. Stachura (1986). The
Supreme Court determined in Stachura (1986) that damages could not be awarded on the
subjective value that a jury assigns to a given right, for it would create an uneven handling in all
cases based on the value the jury placed on the right.
Stachura (1986) was not decided when the jury came in for this case, and the board had
not previously objected to this “intrinsic value” direction from the court. Therefore, the board
had no grounds for appeal on this point because it had not objected previously. Due to the
exceptionality of this case, the court used its discretion in applying Fed. R. Civ. P. 51, where the
preclusion noted above is outlined but so too is the ability of the courts to review items not
appealable to ensure fair practice. In so doing, the court determined that the awarding of
damages based on “intrinsic value” in this case was nearly identical to the events in Stachura
(1986). This award was not permissible.
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