Problem
After Spano had been working for one year, Belding offered her a full-time position as a P.E. teacher in addition to her coaching duties if she would enter into a romantic relationship with him. Spano was a single mother of three young children and the school offered excellent benefits, so she agreed. During her employment, Belding continued to coerce Spano into carrying on a romantic relationship with him. Belding would routinely threaten to fire her, often berating her using extremely offensive, harsh and demeaning terms. Spano felt like she couldn't quit because she couldn't risk the loss of income and benefits, and Belding said if she ever quit "he would ruin her reputation and make sure she never worked in education again" and that she and her children would be homeless.
Over time, Spano developed a dependency on alcohol and fell into a deep depression for which she was seeking treatment. Belding knew she was receiving treatment for depression and anxiety and continued to be verbally abusive to her while on the job.
Spano had reported that she was the victim of quid-pro-quo harassment by Belding to Morris two months before Morris had seen Spano drinking on school grounds. Spano provided Morris with medical records showing the treatment she had been receiving. Morris did not investigate the matter because he did not want to get involved.
The day before Morris observed Spano drinking on school grounds, Spano's doctor had recommended that she take an extended leave for counseling and rehabilitation. When she notified Belding of the requested leave she was terminated. Belding reported the termination as a "no cause" termination in Spano's file. The real reason for the termination was Belding's fear that it would be discovered that his harassment of Spano led to her drinking, which in turn led to a potentially unsafe situation at the school.
Morris, upset about his termination, posted to his Facebook page information about Spano, including her relationship with Belding, her private medical information he obtained through his former job at the Bayside, and information related to her alcohol problem. He then sent an email blast to all of the students, families, and faculty and staff with a link to his Facebook post about Spano.
Ms. Spano Fact Pattern.
Belding hired Spano two years ago as an independent contractor to coach the girls' volleyball and girls' field hockey teams. For the first year she worked at Bayside she only worked as the coach of these two teams. During this time, the school set the practice schedule for the teams as M-Th after school during the six-week seasons for each sport.
Spano had to follow the school's policies and procedures and was instructed to wear a polo shirt with the school's name and mascot while working. Spano had to attend weekly athletic department meetings. Despite these mandates, Spano was free to structure the practices as she saw fit, there was no oversight from the school's athletic director (Mr. Slater) concerning the content of the practices. Moreover, Spano was free to maintain coaching and teaching jobs with other employers as long as they were outside of the district.
(After the first year, she was formally hired as the P.E. teacher as was designated as an employee.)
Task
• What causes of action does Spano have against Belding?
• What causes of action does Spano have against Morris?