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Marjorie Rowland v. Mad River Local School District

730 F.2d 444 (1985)

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Marjorie Rowland v. Mad River Local School District

United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit
730 F.2d 444 (1985)

  • Written by Haley Gintis, JD

Facts

Marjorie Rowland (plaintiff) worked as a high school guidance counselor within the Mad River Local School District (the school district) (defendant). Rowland filed an action in federal district court against the school district and multiple school officials. Rowland alleged that she had been suspended and did not receive a contract renewal after she disclosed to other employees that she was bisexual. Rowland argued that the district had violated her equal-protection rights granted by the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution and her free-speech rights granted by the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. A jury found that the school district had taken adverse employment action against Rowland because she had disclosed her sexual orientation, but that Rowland had also behaved unprofessionally by revealing to employees the names of students who had disclosed to her that they were gay. Following the jury’s findings, the district court held that the school district had violated Rowland’s equal-protection rights and free-speech rights by suspending her and not renewing her contract. The matter was appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Lively, C.J.)

Dissent (Edwards, J.)

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