Board of Education v. Cearfoss

Urner, J., delivered the opinion of the Court. In County Board of Education for Washington County v. Cearfoss et al., 165 Md. 178 , 166 A. 732, 736 , there was an affirmance of judgments in favor of the present three appellees for salaries accruing to them, respectively, under their contracts of employment as public school teachers. The recoveries in two of the cases were for the amounts of salaries claimed for the entire year preceding the institution of the suits, while in the third case the judgment was for the amount of salary installments for a period of four months antecedent to the action. The_ ground of recovery in each case was the refusal of the county board of education to permit the plaintiff to continue her service as a teacher under the terms of her contract with the board, although no action for the termination of her employment had been taken as provided by law.

In the present suits the same plaintiffs are asserting salary claims for periods succeeding those to which the former suits related. The later periods extended from the time of the earlier suits to the date, in one instance, of the plaintiff’s employment by the defendant under a new contract, and, in another instance, to the ³¹ time of the plaintiff’s accepted resignation as a teacher, and, in the third case, to the date of the plaintiff's discharge as a teacher after a hearing conducted as the law requires. In each of the declarations there is a reference to the plaintiff’s former suit and judgment for breach of the same contract. By demurrer to the declaration and by special plea in each case, the defendant advanced the theory that the prior recovery exhausted the plaintiff’s right of action for such a breach.

The defendant’s demurrers to the declarations were overruled, and the demurrer by the plaintiffs to the special pleas were sustained. From judgments for the plaintiffs, on demurrer, the defendant has appealed. It is argued for the appellant that its contracts with the appellees were entire, and that in the actions first brought for the breach of the contracts all the resulting damages-were recoverable, and that consequently the pending suits are not maintainable. To support this contention, the cases of Hippodrome Co. v. Lewis, 130 Md. 154 , 100 A. 78 ; Olmstead v. Bach, 78 Md. 132 , 27 A. 501 , and Keedy v. Long, 71 Md. 385 , 18 A. 704 , are cited.

For the appellees it is contended that their contracts of employment continued in force, notwithstanding the refusal to permit the performance of the duties contracted for, and that therefore the principle invoked by the appellant is not applicable to the present cases. The terms and effect of the agreements between the appellant and the appellees were stated and discussed in the opinion delivered on the former appeals. It was said in that opinion: “The agreement quoted in each of the declarations evidently contemplated a normally continuing tenure for the teachers thereby engaged. It was stipulated that either of the parties to the contract could ‘terminate it at the end of the first or second school year by giving thirty days’ notice in writing to the other during the month of June or July,’ and that, if the teacher wished to vacate her position after the second year, thirty days’ notice in writing should be given to the county board of education, during June or July, except in case of ³² emergency, of which the board should be the judge.

Subject to those conditions, it was expressly provided that the contract should continue from year to year, unless the teacher were suspended or dismissed under the provisions of section 86 of article 77 of the Code, which permits such action after hearing on charges of immorality, dishonesty, intemperance, insubordination, incompetency, or willful neglect of duty. In view of the teachers’ retirement system, with due regard to which the agreement was formulated by the state board of education, the contractual purpose to assure the teacher a continuity of service, in the absence of substantial reasons for its termination, becomes more significant. From the salaries of teachers becoming members of the retirement system there are annual contributions to a fund out of which they are to receive annuities after prolonged periods of teaching service. Consistently with this policy, the contracts with the teachers evidently designed that they might rely, after the first year, upon a tenure to