Hoyt’s ‘frivolous’ lawsuit tossed
Published 9:23 am Tuesday, March 14, 2006
By By JOHN EBY / Dowagiac Daily News
CASSOPOLIS - Circuit Judge Michael E. Dodge Monday morning dismissed Dowagiac Board of Education candidate Corinne Hoyt's “frivolous” lawsuit against school officials.
Dodge agreed with the district's attorney, Thomas Fette of St. Joseph, that the former substitute teacher failed “to state a claim upon which relief can be granted.”
Hoyt in January filed a complaint against school board members and administrators asking that she be awarded $40,000 because of their refusal to rehire her and for declining in November to go into closed session to discuss why she was not allowed to return to the classroom to substitute teach in 2005-06.
Hoyt, who represented herself, brought to court a four-page typed statement which Dodge said court rules require be filed seven days in advance of the hearing.
Dodge did allow her to make an oral statement before finding, as Fette argued in his February motion for summary disposition, which she did not answer, that Hoyt did not state a legal cause of action or facts upon which to base one.
In addition to the dismissal, Fette further asked that Hoyt be sanctioned for filing a “frivolous complaint” and be ordered to pay reasonable attorney fees.
Dodge concurred, stating that her “only coherent claim” was that her right to work had been interfered with” by school officials - a claim he ruled Superintendent Larry Crandall put to rest in his affidavit.
Hoyt's pleadings for the most part were “not very intelligible” or grounded in fact, Dodge said, and warranted sanctions.
Hoyt said in her prepared statement that “it is the expectation of each American that the law will protect them in the face of unjust or unwarranted treatment, but … justice is not always on the side of truth.”
She said Fette “views justice only as ‘winning.' So he brings forth the proposition that my case is ‘frivolous' or unwarranted. Why not! Win or lose, he will go home at the end of the day totally unaffected. His future, his fortunes, his pension program and his earnings will not be affected in any way by the ruling of this court. My situation is entirely different. I have spent the last four years without the job that I was qualified to do. Additionally, I was employed by the Dowagiac school district as a professional, doing that job in an entirely satisfactory manner. My teaching job in the district was terminated by situations and by scurrilous lies and insinuations that ruined my reputation and ended my ability to pursue my profession.”
Her intention in pressing the matter in court was two-fold: compensation for the “injustices forced upon me by certain staff members and the administration” and reinstatement as a substitute teacher.
Hoyt said she taught in Dowagiac for almost 20 years “without any instance of misconduct or complaint.”
Hoyt and 4-Cs founder Bill Harrington are challenging incumbents Bill Lawrence and Larry Seurynck for four-year seats on the school board May 2.