ADVERSE EMPLOYMENT ACTIONS AND PUBLIC SCHOOL ...

Table 35
Failed Leadership--Incompetence
Case Year State Action PP
Rabon v. Bryan County Bd. of Educ. 1985 GA T S
Pryor School Dist. v. Superintendent of Pub. Instruction 1985 MT T E
Smith v. Bullock Co. Bd. of Educ. 2004 AL T S
Floyd v. Amite Co. School Dist. 2009 MS T S
Herrera v. Union No. 39 School Dist. 2009 VT T S
Nuzzi v. St. George Comm. Consol. School Dist. No. 258 2010 IL NR S
From Table 35, the researcher was able to discern that half of the cases centered on
incompetence charges spawned from the administrators’ failure to adequately keep records. In
Smith v. Bullock County Board of Education (2004 Ala. Civ. App.), Floyd v. Amite County
School District (2009 U.S. App.), and Nuzzi v. St. George Community Consolidated School
District No. 258, et al. (2010 U.S. Dist.), each administrator failed to appropriately manage
records in accordance with district policies. Smith and Nuzzi both failed to keep financial
records accordingly and misappropriation and/or of funds seemed apparent from the case
explications, although it was not one of the formal charges in either case. As to Floyd, he did not
keep the personal files of students with up-to-date contact information and required records.
While each case had other factors at play, the failure to maintain records, intentional or not, was
acceptable evidence of incompetence, as the school prevailed in each of these cases.
Incompetence was not solely relegated to cases of recordkeeping. The behaviors of
administrators also led to this declaration. In Rabon v. Bryan County Board of Education (1985
Ga. App.), Rabon made sexual remarks about teachers to other teachers and was terminated for
incompetence because, as the board asserted, he was no longer able to lead a school due to the
tarnishing of his reputation. In another case, Herrera was not specifically cited with any certain
348