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Graham v. Independent School District 62511/29/2005
Appellant Teresa M. Graham, a former employee of respondent Independent School District 625, appeals from summary judgment dismissing her claims for negligence, breach of contract, promissory estoppel, respondeat superior, negligent and intentional infliction of emotional distress, assault, false imprisonment, and retaliation for reporting violations of child-reporting laws. Because we conclude that a genuine issue of material fact exists regarding whether appellant was falsely imprisoned by respondent Deborah Schipp and whether respondent school district is vicariously liable for the actions of Schipp on May 9, 2003, we reverse the district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of respondents and remand the matter for further proceedings. On all remaining issues, we affirm.
FACTS
On May 9, 2001, appellant Teresa M. Graham was hired by respondent Independent School District 625 as a social worker at Saturn Riverfront Academy (n/k/a Wellstone Elementary). Throughout appellant's employment with the school district, respondent Raymond Yu was employed as the principal of Saturn Riverfront Academy. Under Minn. Stat. ยง 122A.41, subd. 2 (2004), Teacher Tenure Act for School Districts Within Cities of the First Class (Act), an individual receives tenure after completing three years as a probationary employee. Until a recent amendment to the Act, employment during any portion of a school year was considered to be a qualifying year; therefore, appellant's one month of employment during spring 2001 qualified as her first year of employment with the school district.
During the 2001-02 school year, appellant filed two reports with the Minnesota Department of Education (f/k/a Minnesota Department of Children, Families, and Learning) alleging child maltreatment. The first report, made on September 20, 2001, alleged that an educational assistant used assaultive behavior towards a student at Saturn Riverfront Academy. The second report, made on October 16, 2001, alleged that a school teacher engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with a student at Saturn Riverfront Academy. In addition, on October 29, 2001, appellant reported that she was injured in the school parking ramp when the mechanical arm malfunctioned striking her on the head. Yu was notified of appellant's injury and paramedics were called.
On May 2, 2002, Pat Juaire, the lead social worker for the school district, completed a performance evaluation on appellant despite the fact that building principals are responsible for completing employee evaluations. The Juaire evaluation reflected an overall "exceeds expectations." Juaire acknowledged, however, that it was not her place to evaluate appellant's performance and that she had little to no interaction with appellant. On May 15, 2002, Yu met with appellant and changed the Juaire evaluation from overall "exceeds expectations" to overall "meets expectations." Yu indicated that during the 2001-02 school year he had received numerous complaints regarding appellant's unprofessional behavior, which resulted in Yu rating appellant as "meets expectations" on her performance evaluation. On May 17, 2002, appellant objected to Yu changing her performance evaluation.
On May 20, 2002, appellant filed a complaint with Eileen Cardwell who assists in investigations of allegations of misconduct or complaints filed by school employees. The complaint stated that appellant believed Yu inappropriately changed her performance evaluation. It further stated that Yu had informed appellant that the parking ramp incident affected her appraisal and that Yu had "grilled" her about the two child-maltreatment reports she filed. Appellant claimed she felt bullied, fearful, and
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