The justices of the Indiana Supreme Court ruled unanimously Thursday that Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) Schools must provide a “factual basis’ for the suspension of former teacher and Fishers High School football coach Rick Wimmer. The court remanded the case back to the Hamilton County Court “for further proceedings consistent with this opinion.”
The ruling, written by Justice Mark Massa, says HSE Schools, when responding to television station WTHR’s request for a factual basis, provided only general statements of Mr. Wimmer’s failure to “classroom management strategies” and did not act consistent with school district policies, but provided only large sections of school policy.
The court’s ruling states the HSE Schools response “provides no facts about Wimmer’s actions that led to his suspension. It only concludes that he violated a broad policy. It does not even say when he violated that policy. A reasonable person would not know what Wimmer did to merit discipline, only that HSE decided to discipline him because it decided he violated a policy.”
The decision goes on to state:
“The policy HSE references only compounds the insufficiency of its response. That policy is as broad as its name—’Staff Conduct.’ Id., p.42. It contains several requirements that could result in discipline if violated; for example, an employee could violate the policy by failing to ‘demonstrate behaviors which contribute toward an appropriate school atmosphere.’
Id. Any number of actions could violate that one requirement. Here, it is unclear which requirement Wimmer violated, let alone what he did to warrant discipline. No reasonable person could read HSE’s statement and policy and understand why HSE disciplined Wimmer.
“HSE’s ‘factual basis’ was merely a bald conclusion that Wimmer violated a broad policy. It did not contain facts about Wimmer’s actions that would allow a reasonable person to understand why he was suspended. HSE’s “factual basis” was insufficient.”
When Mr. Wimmer was suspended roughly 5 years ago, WTHR made two requests that went to the Indiana Public Access Counselor’s Office. HSE responded to WTHR’s request for a factual basis for the suspension of Mr. Wimmer, only saying he failed to control the classroom and provided a section of school policy with a long list of possible violations. The HSE District provided no other facts.
The Public Access Counselor’s office appeared to side with WTHR, saying a factual basis for the suspension needed to include more than HSE provided to the television station’s journalists. Public Access Counselor opinions are advisory.
WTHR, with the help of the Reporters Committee for Freedom of the Press, filed suit seeking more details of the reason for Mr. Wimmer’s 5-day suspension. The Hamilton County Court and the Indiana Court of Appeals sided with HSE Schools, leading to the oral arguments, September 16 last year, before the state’s highest court when WTHR appealed.
Rick Wimmer has since retired as a football coach and teacher at Fishers High School.