It didn’t take long for Jorea Marple to lawyer up after being fired from her job as state Superintendent of Schools.
Marple filed suit last Friday against the state Board of Education, claiming the Board violated her rights when they let her go. She demands a full hearing on her dismissal, as well as damages.
Marple’s legal team has thrown the kitchen sink in the suit, claiming Marple has “suffered the loss of a life-time reputation, sustained extreme mental anguish and suffering, and has been impaired in her ability to enjoy life.”
One of Marple’s attorneys, Tim Barber, told Metronews that Marple’s firing is “completely and absolutely at odds with every piece of jurisprudence there is.”
Actually, it’s not.
Marple was an at-will employee, meaning she could be terminated at any time without cause.
There’s plenty of case history supporting the doctrine of will-and-pleasure employees. Just last year, the West Virginia Supreme Court upheld the firing of long-time Division of Culture and History Archives and History Director Fred Armstrong.
The court said, “an at-will employee… may be terminated at any time, without reason, unless the termination violates some substantial public policy.”
Marple’s attorneys argue over and over in their filing that Marple was denied “due process.” That’s a favorite catch-all when lawyers don’t have much else to argue. In this case, if the Board did not dot all the i’s and cross the t’s, it could take up the matter yet again, but the results would be the same.
At-will employees are not entitled to a job. The doctrine was formed in the 19th century so that employers and employees could define their particular relationship and part company at any time. The very idea of will-and-pleasure was to avoid the kind of caterwauling that is going on now in the Marple case.
But this is, after all, West Virginia, where seemingly the status quo must be protected at all costs. Perhaps the very reason the Marple case is getting some public traction is because the state rarely fires anyone.
In the real world, at-will employees are fired all the time. Often, it’s simply a matter of a top manager and a governing board having differing opinions about how business should be done.
That doesn’t mean anyone is wrong or evil; it may be simply different philosophies.
Meanwhile, Governor Tomblin has proposed significant reforms in public education, many that were culled from an independent audit of the school system and have been embraced by the Board. The Legislature will soon begin debate on these critical measures designed to give our children a better education.
The state is moving on. Marple should too.
20
Comments
Tony C.
Is anyone surprised she has sued? Her husband is Darryl McGraw!!
February 19, 2013 at 5:50 am | Report comment
Fred
"At-will employees are not entitled to a job."
Exactly. Kind of like how Raese's network is not entitled to the WVU contract.
Marple should get over her firing, and John John and company should find another way to make money and quit their whining.
Right, hoppy? Good for the goose, good for the gander.
February 19, 2013 at 7:06 am | Report comment
Greg
Hoppy, I lose a little bit more respect for you every time I see many stupid Marple stories. How about the fact that she was denied the right to hear about her termination in an open meeting. Instead this cowardice Board of Education goes into executive session to discuss her termination, vote on the matter, and then return and announce the vote. That is a violation of her rights, not to mention West Virginia Open Meeting Law. Her firing had more to do with trying to put a stop to no-bid contracts and standing up for teachers rights that it did anything else.
February 19, 2013 at 7:46 am | Report comment
Medman
You obviously know little about "at will" employment. When you sign on to one of these jobs you accept the condition that your employment is subject to the consensus of the Board and the trade-off is that you are paid an executive salary, period. If she and Darryl wants her to be treated as an hourly employee, she needs to apply for an hourly job. She will lose, just as her husband did. The old days are over for the folks who have lived off of the State for decades.
February 19, 2013 at 4:22 pm | Report comment
hillbilly
Court should throw it out and fine both her and her lawyer $10,000 apiece for frivolous lawsuit. I bet some lawyer thought he could make a half million dollars on this case.
February 19, 2013 at 9:29 am | Report comment
CaptainQ
Well Hoppy, I guess Jorea feels she has nothing to lose in trying to sue the state BOE. This is America, where all of us have the freedom to file senseless, pointless lawsuits if we have the funds to afford that luxury. But as has been pointed out already, when you're an "At-Will" employee, it means precisely that. If your superiors want you out, you're out. The only 'straw' she and her attorney can grasp at is if they can prove her firing was a violation of Federal law or EEOC mandates. Otherwise, she's wasting her time, her money and the court's time bringing this lawsuit to bear.
I'm sure the lawyers representing the WV BOE aren't losing any sleep over this development.
February 19, 2013 at 9:48 am | Report comment
Wowbagger
Hoppy,
If Bill Maloney had succeeded in his run for Governor he would likely have replaced virtually ALL at-will employees in the executive branch immediately with people loyal to him just like when Bob Wise succeeded Cecil Underwood. The exceptions, if any would have been those with very specialized qualifications, who are willing to bare their throats and pledge undying allegiance. This scenario brings to mind the situation when a new alpha wolf assumes leadership of the pack for some reason.
This group of at-will state employees is what remains of the political spoils system that existed before the civil service system. Way back when we were young this extended to district highway superintendents and even the employees who manned the cash registers and stocked the shelves in the old state liquor store system.
Also, for those class warriors out there it is important to note that at-will state employees are those who are generally also the highest paid and receive big raises when the rank and file civil servants get nothing.
Bottom line: Don't feel bad for Jorea Marple, who I am sure remembers the spoils system. And, of course, her suit is totally groundless.
February 19, 2013 at 9:49 am | Report comment
mntnman
Agreed. Lets move on. With one proviso. I would like answers to whether Mr. Linger was in fact discussing replacing Marple with other Board members and Dr. Phares outside of Board meetings and in violation of the Open Meetings Act, many months before the action took place. My concern is that such a cavalier attitude regarding the Open Meetings Act on the matter of hiring/firing a state superintendent would suggest a cavalier attitude regarding other state school board matters. I want open and transparent governance relating to our state school board. So lets talk about that -- and Marple's case will just be dismissed and go the way of the dodo bird.
February 19, 2013 at 10:48 am | Report comment
Medman
mntnman, You are so ingrained in the system and truly believe that we need to oversee our educational system by using some manual that was dreamed-up by a bunch of bureaucrats. You simply will not accept that she may not have been leading for change in a broken system and that she was not doing her job. That is exactly why these high paid executives are "at will employees", but you want to convert the whole process to a classical hourly employee, bureaucratic process that takes months or years to get rid of someone who is simply not a leader. I cannot imagine that your kind of thinking will get us out of the educational mess this State is suffering.
February 19, 2013 at 4:32 pm | Report comment
mntnman
Where do you come up wit this stuff. Can you read? First line -- "Agreed. Lets move on." Apparently I didn't write it slow enough for you. A-g-r-e-e-d.-L-e-t-s-m-o-v-e o-n. Is that better?
Have I ever said keep Marple? Nope. What I said, and I believe, and is the LAW, is that Boards cannot work and take actions behind the scenes. They are required to take action only in open session. They appear to have done otherwise. I want someone to look into it.
As for your other comments, either you can't read, you don't read, or you pay no attention. The ideas you attribute to me have not been written or spoken by me. Perhaps if you read my writings s-l-o-w-e-r and actually think about them, then you will understand them. Perhaps not.
If you are going to come after me for my beliefs and thoughts, make sure that you know what my beliefs and thoughts are, and make sure you understand them. I'm not even sure where you got the last few lines of your comments. Perhaps you are so used to being critical that's all you can do.
February 19, 2013 at 5:58 pm | Report comment
Shadow
Just who would be doing this investigation? And what would it really help? Just time and money spent with no reward. Go forward. Women have a difficult time being scorned...
February 19, 2013 at 6:46 pm | Report comment
ShinnstonGuy
No offense to you Hop, but this is a real snoozer. She got fired. No one likes to be fired. She needs to get over it. The same can be said about the endless debate over the distance Mountaineer sports teams travel in the Big XII. Get over it. We signed our life away to the Big XII and now we are the collegiate kings of frequent flyer miles. Perhaps even Hawai'i is jealous.
February 19, 2013 at 11:22 am | Report comment
Facts and Opinions
I'll leave it up to the court system to decide on the merit of the lawsuit. I will point out a few facts that will fly in the face of what Hoppy says and thinks and invite a response from anyone that can refute the provided facts. Phares was first appointed as a superintendent by State Superintendent Steve Paine. Phares created a job that was filled by Steve Paine's son while working in Randolph county, and that job was not written with standard job qualifications/certifications. Phares gave a no bid contract to a company that currently employees Steve Paine (while serving as superintendent in Randolph county).
It is widely known that Marple opposed no bid contracts, and thus butted heads with some state board members--probably Linger and Manchin most notably. It is also widely known that Phares wants to replace the aging data management system used by the WVDE to manage all aspects of eduction (students, employees, payroll, etc.). Is it much of a stretch to assume that a software company that Phares already has a "no-bid" relationship with would probably get this much bigger contract in the not too distant future????
The voice of change was Jorea Marple. Whereas the voice of sameness and return to no-bid contracts may or may not be Phares.... time will tell....
February 19, 2013 at 11:30 am | Report comment
Shadow
A very interesting comment but the situation is not out of the norm for WV. However, it is what the people vote for, unfortunately.
February 20, 2013 at 8:22 am | Report comment
susanf
In other words, the fix was in . . .
February 20, 2013 at 8:40 am | Report comment
Hop'sHip
Time to move on? Agreed! Now explain that to the prickly John Raese with regard to another issue.
February 19, 2013 at 11:46 am | Report comment
wvman75
This is a frivolous lawsuit and this is settled law. Rush it to the SC so they can rule on it quickly before she costs the state more money. If it's any consolation to her, I would have fired her long ago based on her performance.
February 19, 2013 at 2:42 pm | Report comment
ShadyGrove
I used to be an at-will and pleasure employee of the State of West Virginia. They make it perfectly clear they need no reason to fire you, there is no appeal and no due process is necessary. The boss can literally get up on the wrong side of the bed in a grouchy mood and fire you just because they wanted to. Of course she can't believe it could happen to her, but it did.
February 19, 2013 at 3:33 pm | Report comment
Medman
If you do not like the "at will" concept, do not take the job.
February 19, 2013 at 4:33 pm | Report comment
Paul
This is a story that could be the biggest tale told at the next Vandalia Festival. I see this like a current commercial ad now running on TV and the new Superintendent and the Board president playing in the role of the two insurance salesmen with their pants on fire stating "No mas, pantalones".
This is a case of the "The End does not justify the Means".
February 20, 2013 at 8:48 am | Report comment