ADVERSE EMPLOYMENT ACTIONS AND PUBLIC SCHOOL ...

Reasoning: Sanders, an African American, argued that the district’s nonrenewal of her
contract was brought on by her EEOC charge where she claimed that White principals received
greater latitude to hire and fire in their schools. Moreover, she asserted that White principals’
schools received more funding than her school and that schools of White principals received
renovations and improvements more often.
To prevail on a First Amendment retaliation claim, Sanders had to carry three burdens.
First, the court felt that the record readily demonstrated that Sanders did not make this claim in
her official capacity. Second, Sanders had to establish that the speech was of a public concern. In
most instances, violations reported to outside agencies typically classify as insulated speech, but
in Short v. City of West Point (1997) the court determined that EEOC charges were not always
protected. If the EEOC charge was primarily established on personal employment status, then, as
the court set forth, the speech was not protected by the First Amendment. In this case,
uncertainty existed as to the public concerns of the EEOC allegations. Withholding educational
funding due to the race of the principal would most likely qualify as a public concern as multiple
individuals would be affected. However, Sanders never presented this information to a public
entity. She chose to pursue the charges in a manner consistent with a personal employment
grievance. The court found that Sanders’s speech was not of a public concern; therefore,
Sanders’ retaliation claim failed. Third, assuming Sanders’s claim cleared the second hurdle,
Sanders proffered no legitimate evidence to refute the performance inadequacies noted by the
district in its reasons for non-renewal. The district explained that Sanders instituted grade
remediation programs without district approval, delayed the district enrollment report which
jeopardized precious funding, failed to submit any teacher evaluations for the 2004-2005 school
year, and consistently violated district purchasing and fundraising procedures.
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