ADVERSE EMPLOYMENT ACTIONS AND PUBLIC SCHOOL ...

Table 26
Constructive Discharges--Interpersonal Strife
Case Year State Action PP
Barr v. Bd. of Trustees 1995 SC T S
Ulichny v. Merton Comm. School Dist. 2000 WI R S
Finch v. Fort Bend Ind. School Dist. 2003 TX R S
Heutzenroeder v. Mesa Co. Valley School Dist. 2010 CO T S
Because Ulichny and Heutzenroeder were discussed within the Table 25 synthesis, only
Barr and Finch will be discussed in the Table 26 synthesis. In Barr v. Board of Trustees (1995
S.C. App.), Barr was reassigned--perhaps in connection with her sexual harassment claims
against a colleague--from a district-level position to a principal’s position because it was in the
best interests of the district. Barr’s district administrator salary was maintained and there was no
loss in status, as the principal job was aligned with her previous district-level job in the
organizational hierarchy. Moreover, Finch also failed to demonstrate that she was discharged
when she was asked to resign from a principal position or she would be reassigned to another
principal position. In Finch v. Fort Bend Independent School District (2003 U.S. App.), Finch
and the superintendent did not get along, and he did not support her ideas for innovation. In both
of these cases, the administrator’s failure to get along well with her superiors led to employment
actions that made them pursue, unsuccessfully, litigation.
Discrimination. Table 27 represents 11 cases where the school administrator claimed that
a school system took employment action based on discrimination. Three different areas of
discrimination were noted; two of those noted were racial and gender discrimination. One case,
however, also made claims of discrimination based on the school administrator being a
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