IRIS KRISCHER, APPELLANT,
v.
SCHOOL BOARD OF DADE COUNTY, APPELLEE
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A Florida teacher challenged the non-renewal of her employment contract, arguing the school board violated statutory notice requirements under section 231.36(3)(e). The court affirmed the termination, holding that a technical violation of the notice provision does not require reversal when the teacher suffered no prejudice and received adequate informal notice and opportunity to be heard.
A technical violation of the statutory notice requirement in section 231.36(3)(e) does not require reversal of the order terminating a teacher's employment when the teacher was not prejudiced by the violation and received reasonable notice of the deficiencies, had adequate opportunity to defend herself, and the proceedings were conducted fairly.
[1] A technical violation of a statutory notice provision in employment termination proceedings does not require reversal if the employee was not prejudiced by the violation.
[2] An employee is deemed to have received adequate notice of employment deficiencies when provided with early and continual notice, even if not in the exact statutory form.
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“It is sufficient that the party involved is informed with reasonable certainty of the nature of the charges against him, has a reasonable opportunity to defend himself, and the proceedings are conducted in a fair and impartial manner.”
Establishes the standard for adequate notice in administrative proceedings; technical violations do not require reversal if this standard is met
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIris Krischer was a teacher whose contract was not renewed by the School Board of Dade County. During the 1986-1987 school year, three meetings were h…
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PER CURIAM.
Appellant, Iris Krischer, appeals a final order of appellee, School Board of Dade County, terminating appellant’s employ ment as a teacher, by not renewing her contract. We affirm.
Appellant’s primary contention on appeal is that the order terminating her employment must be reversed because appellee failed to comply with the notice requirement set forth in section 231.36(3)(e), Florida Statutes (1987). The record demonstrates that appellant was given early and continual notice of her unsatisfactory performance, albeit not the exact statutory notice prescribed. The record also demonstrates appellant was provided numerous opportunities to correct her unsatisfactory performance.
Three meetings were held with appellant over the 1986-1987 school year regarding deficiencies in appellant’s classroom teaching. At the third meeting, appellant was advised that if she failed to remedy the deficiencies in her teaching by the end of the 1987-1988 school year that she would not be recommended for continued employment. During the 1987-1988 school year, three additional meetings were held with appellant regarding deficiencies in her teaching. At what amounts to a sixth meeting, appellant was advised that her principal would be recommending the non-renewal of her employment contract.
The issue before this court is whether a technical violation of the notice provision in section 231.36(3)(e), Florida Statutes, requires reversal of the order terminating appellant’s employment. A similar issue was dealt with by the First District Court of Appeal in Powell v. Board of Public Instruction of Levy County, 229 So. 2d 308 (Fla. 1st DCA 1969). In Powell, the court considered whether a school board’s failure to give 10 days pre-hearing notice of the charges made against a teacher, as required by statute, justified the quashal of the school board’s action in terminating a teacher’s employment. The Powell court refused to quash the action of the school board on this ground, stating:
It has long been recognized by the courts of this state that administrative hearings conducted by state boards and agencies are of an informal character and not governed by strict or technical rules of evidence or procedure. It is sufficient that the party involved is informed with reasonable certainty of the nature of the charges against him, has a reasonable opportunity to defend himself, and the proceedings are conducted in a fair and impartial manner. Petitioner having failed to demonstrate that he has been prejudiced by the alleged insufficiencies of the notice of the charges, or by a lack of sufficient time for preparing his defenses, such errors, if any, were harmless and do not justify quashal of the action here reviewed.
Powell v. Board of Public Instruction of Levy County, 229 So. 2d at 311.
Although the notice provision in Powell is different from the notice requirement in this case, we are persuaded by the reasoning of the court in Powell. Moreover, we note that the notice provision in Powell was construed under the same statute, as this case. A technical violation of the notice requirement in section 231.36(3)(e), Florida Statutes, does not require reversal of the order terminating the teacher’s employment when the teacher was not prejudiced.
Since appellant has neither shown nor suggested that she was prejudiced by the technical violation of the statutory notice requirement, we deem the violation to be harmless. See S. Kornreich & Sons, Inc. v. Titan Agencies, Inc, 423 So. 2d 940 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982).
Having found the other issue raised by appellant to be without merit, the order appealed from is affirmed.
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Seiden v. Adams, 150 So. 3d 1215 (Fla. 4th DCA 2014)…y acting as the hearing officer, this “does not make the body into a judicial body.” Canney v. Bd. of Pub. Instruction of Alachua Cnty., 278 So. 2d 260, 263 (Fla.1973). Its hearings are “of an informal character,” Krischer v. Sch. Bd. of Dade Cnty., 555 So. 2d 436, 437 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990) (quoting Powell v. Bd. of Pub. Instr. of Levy Cnty., 229 So. 2d 308, 311 (Fla. 1st DCA 1969)), and are “not controlled by strict rules of evidence and procedure.” Carillon Cmty. Residential v. Seminole Cnty., 45 So. 3d 7, 10…
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Gardner v. Sch. Bd. OF Glades Cnty., 73 So. 3d 314 (Fla. 2d DCA 2011)…herewith is inadequate to trigger commencement of the administrative process”); Fla. League of Cities, Inc. v. Ad [*317] min. Comm’n, 586 So. 2d 397, 413 (Fla. 1st DCA 1991) (noting same). We have considered Krischer v. School Board of Dade County, 555 So. 2d 436 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990), a case upon which the Board relies heavily in support of its position. In Krischer, the Third District addressed a school board’s technical noncompliance with the requirements of section 231.36(3)(e), Florida Statutes (1987),1 co…
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Ismael v. Certain Lands Upon Which Special Assessments Are Delinquent, 51 So. 3d 583 (Fla. 3d DCA 2010)…ng, and based on the record now before us, we see no reason to disturb it. Instead, we conclude that the former owner received notice of the proceedings, and any alleged technical error in notice was harmless. See Krischer v. Sch. Bd. of Dade Cnty., 555 So. 2d 436, 437 (Fla. 3d DCA 1990) (holding that technical violation of statutory notice provision did not require reversal of order terminating teacher’s employment where teacher was not prejudiced); S. Kornreich & Sons, Inc. v. Titan Agencies, Inc., 423 So.…
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Powell v. The Bd. OF Pub. Instruction OF Levy Cnty., 229 So. 2d 308 (Fla. 1st DCA 1969)
- S. Kornreich & Sons, Inc. v. Titan Agencies, Inc., 423 So. 2d 940 (Fla. 3d DCA 1982)