DENVER A federal judge has ruled against a former Mancos principal who sued the school district for not rehiring her.
Laura Harper sued after the school board approved rehiring her as the secondary school principal for the 2009-10 school year, but rescinded its decision a few weeks later.
U.S. District Judge William Martinez ruled against Harper on Aug. 5, denying her claims for breach of contract and denial of due process.
The dispute happened in late April 2009, after the school board voted to rehire Harper but before she signed a written contract with the district.
Harper and Superintendent Brian Hanson set out to hire a special education teacher, and Harper encouraged a former colleague to apply. Hanson declined to interview him, and Harper told her friend that he would not get an interview.
When the teacher complained to a school board member, Hanson accused Harper of disclosing confidential information to the job candidate, and he recommended that the school board reverse its decision and not hire her. That board did just that, and Harper sued.
The judge found that Harper and the school district had an oral contract for her employment in 2009-10, but that wasnt good enough to sustain Harpers case. Colorado law requires public school contracts to be in writing.
Brent Case, a lawyer for the school district, said he thought it wasnt a close call.
The judge simply did what he had to do based on the law we had on the books, Case said.
Harper had argued that the minutes of the board meeting constituted a written contract, but Martinez disagreed.
Harper also had argued that the school district violated her rights to due process by not giving her a chance to defend herself.
Of course, shes very disappointed, said Harpers lawyer, Cathy Cooper. If you read the (judges) opinion, it goes back and forth. He finds a lot of facts in our favor.
Indeed, Martinez was sympathetic to her argument, but in the end it didnt matter.
It is undisputed that Plaintiff received no due process before the Board chose not to renew her contract, Martinez wrote in his judgment.
But as an administrator, Harper did not have tenure and did not have a right to expect continued employment at the school, Martinez wrote.
Harper had sought a jury trial, but Martinez issued his ruling after the school district asked for a quick end to the case, arguing their position was strong enough that the court did not have to take the dispute to a jury.
The lawsuit was time-consuming and required district officials to take time away from school for depositions, said Case, the defense attorney. But he is happy that it did not proceed to a trial, which probably would have been during the school year.
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