Preview:

IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MARYLAND : GAIL COLE : : v. : : ANNE ARUNDEL COUNTY BOARD OF EDUCATION, et al. : : Civil No. CCB-05-1579

MEMORANDUM

Now pending before the court is a joint motion for summary judgment filed by defendants Anne Arundel County Board of Education, Sharon Stratton, Wanda McIntire, Winship Wheatley, and Richard Berzinski. The plaintiff, Gail Cole, has sued the defendants for alleged violations of federal and state law arising out of her employment as a bus driver and her transfer away from a route serving the Arundel High School. The issues in this case have been fully briefed and no hearing is necessary. See Local Rule 105.6. For the reasons stated below, the defendants' motion will be granted.

BACKGROUND Plaintiff Gail Cole ("Cole"), an African-American woman, worked as a bus driver with Smith Bus Service from 1991-2004. Her performance evaluations for most of that time appear to be quite good, and in her last performance rating, she was given high marks. (Def.'s Mem. at. Ex. E, Winship Dep. at 38-39.) In 2004, Cole was employed by Crofton Charters to drive Bus 1

217, which served several schools in the Anne Arundel County Public School System. Cole testified that the reason she accepted employment with Crofton Charters was to serve this particular route, which provided Cole the opportunity to work more hours than previous routes. (Pl.'s Opp. Mem. at Ex. 3, Cole Dep. at 17-20.) Cole had a bus attendant (Karen Maier) who traveled with Cole on her bus routes. In spring 2004, Cole reports that she began having some disciplinary problems with the students who rode on her route. In one incident, a student threw a battery from the bus, which struck a moving car. (Id. at 34.) As part of her job duties, Cole filled out a School Bus Behavior Report and reported the student and incident to Mr. Stuart Berlin, an assistant principal who acted as a liaison between the Arundel High School and Board of Education. (Id. at Ex. 7, Berlin Dep. at 13.) After an investigation, the offender confessed and was disciplined. (Id. at 20-21.) The disciplinary problems continued. From April 29, 2004 to May 5, 2004, Cole and Maier wrote four behavior referrals for a student, whose initials are M.K.; the student refused to take his assigned seat on the bus (M.K. was not the student who earlier threw the battery). (Id. at Ex. 3, Cole Dep. at 35.) On May 5, because none of the four referrals had been processed, Cole went to the school office to inquire about the handling of M.K.'s discipline. Mrs. Schade, an Assistant Principal for the school, said that she had not yet gotten to M.K.'s files because of other serious disciplinary problems in the school and indicated that she would treat the referrals as a single incident instead of four separate incidents. (Id. at 37-39.) Cole did not like Schade's answers and wanted to speak to Ms. Sharon Stratton, Principal of Arundel High School, about the issue. (Id. at 39-40.) As Cole and Maier waited to speak to Stratton, they saw Schade stop Stratton and speak

2

to her. (Id. at 42.) According to Cole, Stratton then approached Cole in a condescending manner, raised her voice, pointed her two-way radio in Cole's face, and told Cole that she needed to understand the magnitude of her problems with the school. (Id. at 42-43.) Cole responded by saying that Stratton did not need to talk down to Cole and that Stratton knew nothing about Cole. (Id. at 43.) Stratton then apologized to Cole, who responded by saying that she could not get any help in disciplining the students on her bus. (Id. at 45.) According to the defendants, Cole also said something to the effect of Stratton not "walking the talk" or that Stratton was "all talk." (Id. at 49-50.) At the end of the conversation, Stratton requested a meeting with Cole and Cole's supervisor, Wanda McIntire. The following Monday, on May 10, Cole and Maier met with Stratton, McIntire, and Robert Dick, the owner of Crofton Charters. In Cole's account of the events, Stratton felt that Cole had disrespected her and that Cole needed an appointment to see her. (Id. at 56-57.) Defendants claim that Stratton explained why it was not possible for the school to discipline the students more quickly, but Cole did not seem satisfied with Stratton's answers. (Def.'s Mem. at Ex. B, Stratton Dep. at 72.) The meeting was not productive and, at the end of the meeting, Stratton asked McIntire to reassign Cole from Arundel High School. (Id. at 75.) According to Cole, Stratton told McIntire "that she hoped McIntire would do as she had agreed in a phone conversation that they had prior to the meeting." (Pl.'s Opp. Mem. at Ex. 3, Cole Dep. at 58.) McIntire then told Dick to "see what he could do" to remove Cole from serving the Arundel High School. (Id. at Ex. 5, McIntire Dep. at 63.) A day or two after the meeting, Dick removed Cole from the Arundel bus route and reassigned her to a different route. (Def.'s Mem. at Ex. G, Dick Aff. at

Download Gail Cole v. Anne Arundel County Board of Education - Memorandum.pdf

Maryland Law