Summary judgment order overturned

Boca Raton, FL – The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit issued an opinion on January 23, 2011 in Curtis Sherrod v. Dr. Arthur Johnson, Case No. 10-11804, agreeing with the arguments of Weiss, Handler, Angelos & Cornwell, P.A., partner Bill Cornwell and associate Seth Kolton.

The Eleventh Circuit held that former Palm Beach County Superintendent Dr. Arthur Johnson and former Roosevelt Middle School Principal Dr. Gloria Crutchfield were entitled to qualified immunity for their separate recommendations that former school teacher Curtis Sherrod should be terminated.

Sherrod sued Johnson, Crutchfield, the School District of Palm Beach County, and others alleging that he was transferred, suspended, and terminated in retaliation for exercising his First Amendment right to free speech by criticizing the School Board and School District employees. The United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida granted summary judgment to the School District finding that res judicata barred Sherrod’s claims. However, the District Court held that Johnson and Crutchfield were not entitled to qualified immunity. The Eleventh Circuit reversed holding that Johnson and Crutchfield had lawful justifications for recommending Sherrod’s termination. The Eleventh Circuit concluded that there is no case law to suggest that, “a reasonable principal and superintendent armed with the knowledge [Johnson and Crutchfield] possessed, to include the unsatisfactory performance reviews, would know they could not recommend and/or adopt a recommendation to terminate Sherrod.”

The opinion can be found on the eleventh Circuit’s website or by clicking on the following link:
http://www.ca11.uscourts.gov/opinions/ops/201011804.pdf.