ADVERSE EMPLOYMENT ACTIONS AND PUBLIC SCHOOL ...

The district court found that Rogers suffered no racial discrimination or due process
violations. Rogers appealed where his case was heard and his racial discrimination suit was
denied, but the court reversed and remanded to the district court ruling that Rogers did suffer due
process violations at the hands of the board.
Issues: (1) Was Rogers entitled to compensatory or punitive damages and attorney fees as
result of the board’s due process violations?
Holding: The court held that Rogers was only entitled to nominative damages but
remanded to the district court to properly determine attorney fees.
Reasoning: First, the district court ruled that Rogers was not due any damages as he was
going to be fired anyway. Therefore, he was awarded $1 for nominal damages. The appellate
court affirmed this point. The court reasoned that Rogers did show some proof in that he had
performed many jobs satisfactorily prior to this. However, the court could only intervene in this
review if the finding of the district court was clearly wrong. The court could not reason that is
was erroneous.
As to attorney fees, the amount awarded by the district court was a point of discrepancy.
The court affirmed the amount awarded except for an exclusion of one attorney from payment.
Thus the court vacated and remanded to the district court to properly determine attorney fees.
Disposition: The court affirmed in part and reversed in part.
Citation: Rovello v. Lewis County Board of Education, 181 W. Va. 122; 381 S.E.2d 237,
(1989 W. VA.).
Key Facts: Samuel Rovello attended the West Virginia Secondary Schools Principal
Conference while he was the Lewis County High School principal in November 1984. The
expenses for this trip were billed to the school. In September 1985, a standard audit was
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