Running head: Artifact #2 Teachers Rights and Responsibilities 1

Artifact #2

Teachers Rights and Responsibilities

Wyatt A. Reid

College of Southern Nevada

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Ann Griffin, a white tenured teacher in an argument said to two administrators, Freddie

Watts and Jimmy Brothers, that she “hated black folks.” Ann Griffin taught in a predominantly

black high school. After people started to hear about what was said they started reacting

negatively. The principal then recommended that she be fired based on her lack of ability to treat

students fairly and her judgment and competency as a teacher.

The first case in favor of Ann Griffin is Scott v. Sanford (1856). This case involves a

black slave who petitions the Supreme Court. They had held that the Bill of Rights didn't apply

to blacks. The justices and the white majority was "horrified" at the thought that the Bill of Right

applied to blacks. So Scott lost his appeal. This applies to the Ann Griffin because her dismissal

was based upon popular opinion. In Scott v. Sanford this man was denied basic rights because of

popular opinion and Griffin was only put up for dismissal when the popular opinion was to do

so, not after her initial words were spoken.

Melzer v. Bd. of Educ. of the City Sch. Dist. of the City of N.Y. (2003) is my second case

in favor of Ann Griffin. The case states that Melzer a member of the North American Man/Boy

Love Association was fired because of his association with this group. The courts upheld this

decision. It applies to the Griffin scenario because just because she said that she "hated all black

folks" she had never acted on those comments before. In all of her years teaching in a mostly

black school she had been a good teacher. Good enough to receive tenure. If she really believed

what she had said in the heat of the argument she wouldn't have kept teaching at that school for

all of those years.

The first cases against Ann Griffin will be Pickering v. Board of Education (1968). In

this case Pickering won that he was fired wrongfully for his freedom of speech. He spoke out

against the school board and the superintendent’s actions in regards to tax levies. The Supreme
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Court ruled that teachers have the right to make public comments on matters of public concern.

Furthermore the court said that unless public opinion puts at risk the teacher’s ability to hold

working relationships with teacher and superiors, perform duties, or orderly operations of the

school then it wasn’t grounds for firing. Ann Griffin’s comments make her directly against the

decision of the court. Her hate for “black folks” makes her unfit to teach students of that color

because she will not be able to keep orderly operations in the school, due to most of the students

knowing that they are disliked because of their race.

In Munroe v. Central Buck School Dist. (2015) Munroe a teacher files suit claiming her

freedom of speech as protected in the first amendment of the Constitution of the United States of

America. She had a blog and had made many comments about students and the school. She

didn’t use names, but was very rude and derogatory towards the children that she was in charge

of instructing. The court denied her claims stating that she did not use speech that was protected

under the Constitution. Ms. Munroe’s speech like that of Ann Griffin is not protected by the

Constitution and is grounds for dismissal as a teacher.

I conclude that using the Pickering v. Board of Education case that Ann Griffin was

lawfully dismissed from her employment. She was not speaking on matters of public concern

and her speech made her students and colleagues unable to keep an effective working

relationship. Her speech disrupted normal operations of the school. I will add that even if she

didn’t teach in a school of predominantly black student’s that her comment would still be

grounds for dismissal.

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References

MELZER v. BD OF EDUC, CITY OF NEW YORK. 336 F.3d 185 (2003) (n.d.). Retrieved

September 9, 2017. https://www.leagle.com/decision/2003521336f3d1851500

MUNROE v. CENTRAL BUCKS SCHOOL DIST., 805 F.3d 454 (2015) (n.d.). Retrieved

September 9, 2017. https://www.leagle.com/decision/infco20150904066

PICKERING v. BOARD OF EDUC. OF BOROUGH OF N. PLAINFIELD. 117 N.J. 137

(1989), 564 A.2d 861(n.d.). Retrieved September 9, 2017.

https://www.leagle.com/decision/1989254117nj1374101

SCOTT v. SANDFORD, 60 U.S. 393 (1856) (n.d.). Retrieved September 9, 2017.

https://www.leagle.com/decision/noyr45360us3932392

Underwood, J., & Webb, L. (2006). Teachers' Rights. In School Law for Teachers. Upper Saddle

River: Pearson Education.

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