ADVERSE EMPLOYMENT ACTIONS AND PUBLIC SCHOOL ...

Third, the court deduced that McFerren’s charge of intemperance was drawn from his
actions of raising his voice in front of superiors. Overall, the court characterized McFerren’s
behavior as within the realm of reason and that it could be expected that a principal may at times
raise his voice in the course of action. Moreover, the courts noted that they had only found one
individual guilty of intemperance and that was for abuse of a child. Thus, McFerren’s behaviors
did not warrant a charge of intemperance.
Fourth, the charge of willful neglect of duties was based on McFerren’s supposed failure
to report the modification of the school day from six periods to seven to the school board.
McFerren, as the court noted, was contracted to report to the superintendent not the board.
McFerren had reported the change and the year-long research that had been performed prior to
the decision. The court noted that none of the incidents associated with McFerren warranted his
termination. While it may have been true that McFerren did not work well with the people in his
district and school, the board hired him for a very specific purpose--to clean up the problems
within the school.
Disposition: The order of the Secretary was reversed.
Citation: Nuzzi v. St. George Community Consolidated School District No. 258, et al.,
688 F.Supp.2d 815, (2010 U.S. Dist.).
Key Facts: Deborah and Thomas Nuzzi were married school administrators in the St.
George Community Consolidated School District No. 258 (the district). Thomas was hired by the
district school board to be the superintendent of schools in 2004 when he signed a 4-year
contract. Sometime after his hiring, Tom hired Loan Nguyen as the new district bookkeeper. Her
original salary was $25,000. At the end of her first year, Tom extolled praise on Nguyen and
recommended a $5,000 raise, which was approved by the board.
248