When is tenure not tenure?  The answer according to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals is that the grant of tenure is defined by the terms of the employment contract rather than a philosophical understanding of tenure.  The Cooley law school dismissed tenured Professor Lynn Branham at the end of her one year contract in December of 2006.  There had been disputes over the subjects of the classes assigned to Professor Branham in that period.  The school wanted her to teach constitutional law and torts, though her vocal preference was to teach criminal law.  She did teach those classes in the spring semester and took a medical leave over the summer.  She was again assigned those classes in fall but refused to teach them.  The school dismissed her in December of that year.

She sued Cooley on various counts, most of which were dismissed by the District Court.  The one claim in which she prevailed was breach of contract.  The school had not followed its contractual process that called for a hearing before the full faculty with the possibility of an appeal to the school’s Board of Directors in case of an adverse decision.  The District Court ordered the hearing to be held.  Professor Branham lost by a vote of 89-15 and the Board upheld the dismissal.

The opinion describes the relevant issue at hand:

via Law Librarian Blog: Sixth Circuit Makes Faculty Tenure Almost Meaningless.

HT: Les Forrester