ADVERSE EMPLOYMENT ACTIONS AND PUBLIC SCHOOL ...

Table 22
District Realignment--Salary Maintenance
Case Year State Action PP
Rossi v. Bd. of Educ. of City School Dist. of Utica 1983 NY R E
Kelly v. Bd. of Educ. 1988 IL R E
In Rossi v. Board of Education of City School District of Utica (1983 N.Y. Misc.), Rossi
was reassigned as principal at a K-6 school from a K-8 school. His K-8 salary was maintained,
but he did not receive step increments in keeping with the K-8 salary scale. Rossi was successful
in showing that the two jobs were not so disparate as to warrant loss of salary, and he was
awarded back pay and salary reconfiguration. Moreover, in Kelly v. Board of Education (1988
Ill. App.), Kelly and Harvey had been normal school principals but became itinerant fill-in
administrators for their district. Following a district realignment and salary restructuring, Kelly
and Harvey both lost salary because their salary changed based on their placement. Kelly and
Harvey successfully argued that the district did not provide reasons for their initial transfers,
which made their loss of salary invalid. Maintenance of salary is a prime determinant as to
whether or not an employment action can be justified as unfairly adverse.
The other point of interest that appeared in Table 21 was two cases where retaliation
claims were made in association with district realignment.
Table 23
District Realignment--First Amendment Retaliation Claims
Case Year State Action PP
Hatcher v. Bd. of Pub. Educ. 1987 GA R SPLIT
Daury v. Smith 1988 MA R S
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