Increasingly, college faculty members accused of sexual harassment say their rights have been breached and are suing their institutions. Some observers see the trend as a backlash to new expectations about appropriate faculty behavior. Others worry that administrative definitions of harassment are too broad, and faculty due process is violated.…

Discussion of academic freedom and college teacher dismissal first examines the expectations that institutions should have of faculty, traces the history of academic freedom in America, and looks at conditions that might constitute adequate cause for teacher dismissal. Examples are drawn from court litigation. Catalysts in the institutional…

A survey and analysis of various fairness issues related to teacher evaluation and the pursuant legal challenges to placement on the Texas Teacher Career Ladder by the use of a statewide teacher appraisal system are presented in this report. Analysis of legal trends in Texas indicates that strict compliance has been required in situations where…

Discusses cases involving a nontenured high school coach's firing, state-mandated competency testing, and civil rights of public employees. (KS)

The results are reported of court litigation in which Boston University faculty were denied the right to collective bargaining because faculty are considered supervisors. The role of the American Association of University Professors is also discussed and excerpts from the court's opinion are presented. (MSE)

Intellectual property questions, as they concern college faculty, are composed of many issues and have substantial and far-reaching implications for the work of faculty and students and for administrative decision making. Both faculty and the American Association of University Professors must become involved to guard against incursions of academic…

A central issue in litigation arising from adverse employment decisions affecting school personnel is the adequacy of due process procedures. Due process is required only if a teacher is able to establish a protected property or liberty interest. The first section of this chapter accordingly discusses the circumstances under which due process is…

As popular support grows for improving education, the states are considering many different ways to attract better teachers into teaching and keep good teachers in the schools. Proposed reforms are being widely discussed, in national reports, state legislatures, and many other forums across the nation. Less widely discussed but also important are…

In view of the dramatic increase in the numbers of laws and lawsuits since the 1960s, teachers must become aware of the privacy considerations and potential legal problems that may arise when writing a letter of recommendation or giving a verbal reference. They should become familiar with present common law doctrine and recent legislation…

Discusses five areas of the school environment lending themselves to the possibility of teacher and student teacher liability: negligence, malpractice, rights to privacy, field trips, and search of students and school property. Suggests specific guidelines for decreasing the possibility of adverse legal action. (NEC)

A discussion of legal aspects of college faculty efforts to profit from their research activities considers whether judicially acknowledged distinctions between faculty's academic and personal pursuits will apply in such cases of commercialization. Implications for increased regulation of core institutional and faculty activities are examined.…

Analysis of a Supreme Court case, in which university use of academic freedom as a basis for protecting confidential peer-review documents was rejected, explores the general development and this application of academic freedom doctrine. Individual academic freedom is distinguished from institutional autonomy in protection of the free exchange of…

As shown by a West Virginia case involving allegations of student touching, principals are challenged to provide a safe environment for both students and staff members. Although court decisions generally favor school districts, they reveal the importance of a documented warning, a prudent investigation, and a sound board decision. (MLH)

This checklist is designed to reduce the prospect that a termination decision will be reversed in a grievance procedure, arbitration, state agency hearing, or court proceeding. The checklist is arranged under the following headings: (1) What is the real reason for considering firing this individual? (distinction between reduction-in-force and…

The court decision in Bishop vs. Aronov, that public universities may suppress a professor's classroom comments on his personal religious beliefs, is discussed, focusing on the conflict between a professor's right to express personal religious beliefs and a university's right to take action to limit that expression. (Author/MSE)