Partee v. Metropolitan School District of Washington Township

ESCHBACH, Senior Circuit Judge. The Metropolitan School District of Washington Township (the ""school district"") operates both a high school and a career center in Indianapolis, Indiana. Maxine Partee is a teacher in the Business Education Department of the career center. In 1987, she sued the school district, its superintendent (Phillip J. McDaniel), and other officials. She claimed, among other things, that 1) McDaniel infringed her first amendment rights, as protected through 42 U.S.C. § 1983, by instructing her not to speak on a certain topic, and 2) the school district discriminated against her on account of her race by refusing to promote her to various positions, in violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981. The parties jointly stipulated that these claims did not run against the superintendent in his personal capacity, but only in his official capacity. The district court granted the defendants summary judgment on all of the claims. We affirm. Discussion Only three of Partee's contentions require Discussion. She claims that the district court erred by holding that 1) the school district could not be liable under § 1983 for McDaniel's alleged infringement of her first amendment rights; 2) she could not sue under § 1981 for the denials of promotions because those promotions would not have created new and distinct relations with her employer; and 3) she could not be relieved, pursuant to Fed. R. Civ. P. 60(b), from her stipulation to dismiss her claims against McDaniel in his personal capacity.