ADVERSE EMPLOYMENT ACTIONS AND PUBLIC SCHOOL ...

Second, Sacken (1996) and Davis (1998) revealed that the most perilous job assignment a
school administrator faced was his/her own people skills. This research study thoroughly
supported those notions. Within the second category, employee actions and school
districts/boards identified actions that gave rise to the employment actions being litigated. The
themes within the category were failed leadership, outlandish behavior, interpersonal strife, and
upstanding behavior. It became clear following the study that failed leadership was inextricably
tied to interpersonal strife. Insubordination, negligence, and incompetence are, at their most basic
levels, behaviors evident following failed communication. The perception of a school
administrator’s people skills is especially volatile due to his/her middle management position in
schools. Administrators are bound to the mandates and assignments of their superiors and the
school board, but they are also bound to the whims of their faculty, staff, and parent community.
Therefore, it is of the utmost importance for a school administrator to find a way to balance the
requirements from each side as they are bandied back and forth over the wishes from each side.
Third, the research study provided a clear look at the defenses that school administrators
erected in hopes of overturning adverse employment actions. The protections most cited were
violations of due process, the First Amendment, tenure, and breach of contract. Due process was
a consistent claim over the 30-year period and will continue to be so as long as school board’s
and administrators attempt to interpret state and federal law. An interesting upswing of First
Amendment litigation was also seen during the 2000s, which may be a reaction to growing
accountability measures placed on administrators. As the stakes are raised, administrators feel
more compelled to speak out against district decisions that they may ultimately be judged upon.
Tenure was a litigated area that dissipated to only one case in the 2000s as most states have
revoked tenure for administrators. Not surprisingly though, breach of contract claims grew
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