Amoroso v. Gooch (E.D. Mo. April 14, 2021) A tenure-track assistant professor was terminated by the university. The court dismissed the professor’s procedural due process claim because the professor had no property interest in continued employment beyond the fulfillment of the one-year, term contract that governed his employment arrangement with the university, stating “Absent unusual circumstances, a teacher in a position without tenure or a formal contract does not have a legitimate entitlement to continued employment” (citations omitted). However, the professor stated a contract claim by alleging that prior to the expiration of his term contract, he was terminated for cause without a hearing, in contravention of stated policies and procedures, and also that he was not reappointed based on false allegations and arbitrary criteria unrelated to teaching, advisement, scholarship, or service.
Daniels v. Board of Curators of Lincoln University, 51 S.W.3d 1 (Mo. App. 2001). A tenured professor also held a position as vice president of student affairs, which was governed by an employee handbook. Although the university had a policy that said employees served at will, it also had employee handbook provisions that guaranteed that staff would not be dismissed without good cause. The court found that the promise not to dismiss without cause gave the professor “a protected property interest in his continued employment [as vice president], thus entitling professor to notice of the reasons for termination and an opportunity to be heard.”
Muth v. Board of Regents of Southwest Missouri State University, 887 S.W.2d 744 (Mo. App. 1994). The faculty handbook included a grievance process for faculty members to object to a denial of tenure. After being denied tenure, a faculty member, rather than exhaust her administrative remedies, filed suit in state court. The state appellate court ruled that a court can hear a tenure dispute only after all internal administrative remedies have been exhausted, as provided in the handbook.
Krasney v. Curators of University of Missouri, 765 S.W.2d 646 (Mo. App. 1989). Neither prior appointments nor any provision of a university’s manual created the right to reappointment under a temporary librarian’s specific term contract.
Snowden v. Northwest Missouri State University, 624 S.W.2d 161 (Mo. App. 1981). A nontenured faculty member’s claim that he was not given timely notice of nonrenewal was rejected on the grounds that the faculty handbook clearly identified the timing for notice for faculty members on regular contracts.