NSBA submits amicus brief in Title VII employment discrimination case
NSBA has submitted an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the employer in the case of Crawford v. Metropolitan Government of Nashville and Davidson County, Tenn., No. 06-1595. In 2002, Nashville and Davidson County, Tenn., school officials contacted Vicky Crawford as part of their investigation into sexual misconduct charges against Gene Hughes, the school district's director of employee relations. Ms. Crawford, a payroll supervisor, for the first time alleged that Mr. Hughes had harassed her. While the internal probe concluded with no disciplinary action taken against Mr. Hughes, Ms. Crawford and two other female employees who had provided information were later fired. She sued, alleging she had been dismissed in violation of § 704(a) of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act in retaliation for what she told investigators. The U.S. district court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit (KY, MI, OH, TN) held that Title VII does not impose liability for an employer’s action against an employee who alleged sexual harassment in response to the employer’s own internal investigation. Ms. Crawford filed a petition for certiorari to the U.S. Supreme Court, which granted review on Jan. 18, 2008.
NSBA’s brief, authored pro bono by Robert J. Sniffen of the Sniffen Law Firm, P.A., in Tallahassee, Florida, F. Damon Kitchen of Constangy, Brooks & Smith, LLC, in Jacksonville, Florida, and Jack R. Wallace of the latter firm’s New York office, argues that there is no need to expand the Title VII protections to employees who participate in an internal investigation where no formal complaint has been brought, as such employees already have other legal protections. The brief contends that adopting Ms. Crawford’s view that there also can be Title VII liability in cases involving mere passive involvement in an internal investigation would undermine the premise of the law that active, not passive, opposition by employees to harassment is essential, a premise that is especially true for school districts. A school district’s governance and management structure depend more on employees coming forward on their own, the brief points out, and a school district’s incentives and legal obligations to deal with sexual harassment allegations are far more extensive than those of other employers. The brief also warns that expanding Title VII liability would have unintended negative consequences for schools.
NSBA brief in Crawford v. Metropolitan Gov’t of Nashville and Davidson County, Tenn.
Crawford v. Metropolitan Gov’t of Nashville and Davidson County, Tenn., 211 Fed. Appx. 373 (6th Cir. 2006)