French v. Board of Education

BARNARD, P. J. The petitioner applied for a writ of mandate to compel the respondent to recognize her alleged status as a permanent teacher and to pay her salary for a period of time within the school year 1941-1942 during which she had not been assigned to a teaching position. Respondent’s answer admitted that she had formerly held permanent status as a teacher in said district and alleged that this status had been terminated by her resignation. After a trial the court found in favor of the respondent finding, among other things, that petitioner’s permanent status had been terminated by [150]her resignation, which was voluntary and not procured by fraud, coercion or duress. From the judgment which followed the petitioner has appealed.

There is no dispute as to the material facts. In 1934, the appellant was and for some years had been a teacher in respondent district with permanent tenure. She and her husband were living in San Diego but during the preceding school year her husband had been employed as a teacher at Lakeside, some 21 miles from San Diego. During the summer of 1934, appellant and her husband approached the respondent with the request that the husband be given work as a probationary teacher in respondent district. They were informed that it was the policy of the respondent board not to give initial employment as teachers to a husband and wife at the same time. After some discussion, an understanding was arrived at between the parties for the purpose of enabling the husband to substitute himself for the appellant as the member of the family having permanent status in said district. To this end, and in order to maintain her permanent status until her husband acquired tenure, it was understood and agreed that the husband would be employed on the condition that the appellant would take annual leaves of absence during his probationary period, and that she would resign her position as a permanent teacher if and when he acquired tenure. Incidentally, it appears that the appellant was suffering from tuberculosis for several years from and after 1934, although she testified that she did not know that she had this disease until December of that year.

Pursuant to this agreement, the terms of which were set forth in letters exchanged between the parties, the husband taught in this district the next three years, and each year the appellant was granted a leave of absence upon her written application in which she mentioned the understanding. For some reason which does not appear in the record the husband was not reemployed for the school year 1937-1938. During that year the appellant was assigned to a half-time teaching position upon her written request in which she said: “My physician says that it must be in the morning as he would like me to rest in the afternoons.” Beginning with the next year, however, the understanding previously arrived at was reinstated by mutual consent and the appellant took annual leaves of absence and her husband was employed as a probationary teacher for the three school years between July, 1938. and June. 1941.