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Dewey v. Tacoma School District No.103/5/1999
JUDGES Authored by David H. Armstrong Concurring: Karen G. Seinfeld Carroll C. Bridgewater
William Dewey was employed by the Tacoma School District No. 10 from January 1988 until September 1993, when his position was eliminated. Although he applied for another position in the District, he was not appointed to it. Dewey sued the District, claiming he was wrongfully terminated in retaliation for (1) reporting misconduct by his supervisor; and (2) threatening to report misconduct by subordinate employees. The trial Judge dismissed the case after Dewey rested. On appeal, Dewey argues the trial court erred in (1) ruling that he had not adequately pled a First Amendment claim; (2) denying him leave to amend his complaint to state a First Amendment claim; and (3) finding the evidence insufficient to go to the jury. We affirm.
FACTS
Dewey began his employment with the Tacoma School District in January 1988 as Maintenance Coordinator in the Building and Grounds Department. When the Building and Grounds Department was reorganized in 1989, Dewey became manager of the Work Control Center. Dewey was employed as the Work Control Center Manager until September 1993 when the Work Control Center was eliminated.
After learning of the proposed elimination of the Work Control Center, Dewey applied for the Maintenance Manager Position. A panel interviewed Dewey on August 13, 1993, but he was not selected. On September 1, 1993, the District Superintendent wrote Dewey that his employment would terminate effective October 15, 1993, as a result of the elimination of his position and budget restrictions.
Dewey sued the District, the District Deputy Superintendent, Benjamin Soria, and his former supervisor, John Helmlinger, for wrongful termination of employment. The overarching theory of Dewey's complaint is that the District terminated his employment in retaliation for (1) reporting Helmlinger's use of District employees to move household furniture during work hours; and (2) reporting Helmlinger's refusal to investigate a subordinate employee's suspected misuse of compensatory time.
A. Furniture Moving
In spring 1993, Helmlinger asked his managers to lunch at his home and to help him move furniture. Dewey and three others helped with the move, which occurred at least partly during work hours.
On August 30, 1993, Jeff Sopher, a District employee, wrote a letter to the president of the School Board reporting Helmlinger's use of District employees to move furniture at his home during the workday. Dewey had previously told Sopher about the furniture move because Dewey believed that Sopher was about to lose his job. Dewey also said that Sopher could use his name to "blow the whistle on this furniture moving thing." Dewey concedes that he gave Sopher the information to protect Sopher's job.
B. Compensation Time
In early 1993, Dewey was asked to review the compensatory time balances of his four employees. Dewey reported to Helmlinger that he was having problems computing the balances. Dewey believed the balances reported to him were inaccurate and suspected his employees of misusing compensation time. Dewey testified that Helmlinger instructed him, as a supervisor, to negotiate the compensation time issue with his staff. But Dewey disagreed with this instruction, believing there was nothing to negotiate as "the figures {did} not add up." Dewey eventually reported the issue to Assistant Superintendent Ben Soria, Helmlinger's supervisor. Helmlinger testified that he contacted the state auditor when it became apparent Dewey could not resolve the discrepancies on his own.
Dewey's amended complaint al
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