Outlines school boards' responsibility to follow due process procedures in dismissals of school employees who are not teachers. Refers to a recent Supreme Court decision on two court cases. (MD)

Superintendent dismissal cases may be grouped into two major categories (nonrenewals and terminations) that can be divided into three levels: cases based primarily on the contract, on legislation, or on constitutional rights. Superintendents have been much more successful in challenging terminations than nonrenewals. Numerous issues and cases are…

Reviews key Supreme Court decisions on free speech rights of public employees. Advises school administrators to be vigilant in discipline or dismissal cases where freedom of speech is an issue. (MD)

This document presents the standards for social work personnel practices established by the National Association of Social Workers (NASW). A discussion of general principles notes that the standards presented in this document are based on the principles that effective social service depends on qualified staff and that staff members can give their…

Making reference to concepts grounded in the Fourteenth Amendment of the United States Constitution, this document lists substantive and procedural due process requirements regarding employee termination that administrators must take pains to implement. Justifiable reasons for termination are identified. School administrators have the burden of…

Two cases illustrate some of the recent issues and decisions on the dismissal of school principals. Principals are cautioned that courts tend to defer to the judgment of school boards, particularly on matters within the members' area of expertise or authority. (MLF)

The most common grounds for dismissing tenured faculty have been incompetence, immorality, neglect of duty, and insubordination. Judicial evaluations of substantive grounds for dismissing tenured postsecondary faculty for cause are discussed. (MLW)

Although the law pertaining to tenure denial based on scholarship and teaching is well settled, legal issues governing faculty dismissal due to declining college enrollments are unsettled. This paper reviews tenure cases and explores tenure denial based on institutional need, anticipating development of a separate body of law. (72 references) (MLH)

A complex case involving a disgruntled ex-employee's invasion of a college president's e-mail system resulted in a decision granting two plaintiffs' motions for summary judgment. This was the first recorded education-related collision on the electronic superhighway. Every educational institution should have a policy and procedure regarding what…

Discusses the Supreme Court's interpretation of the time limit provision governing the filing of complaints with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. (WD)

Summarizes issues relating to removal of school board members in the areas of grounds, methods, and parties seeking removal. The fewer than 20 successful removal actions since World War II indicate that the vulnerability of board members to litigation does not necessarily mean they are equally vulnerable to removal actions. (MLF)

The Supreme Court has resolved an issue involving public employees' due process rights. Before dismissing an employee, school administrators must (1) give the employee a clear list of the grounds for the decision, (2) explain the basis for each charge, and (3) give the employee a chance to respond. (MLF)

Argues that the overwhelming importance of the employment relation to the individual employee, coupled with the arbitrariness of a rule that permits termination of that relationship without cause, necessitates re-examination of that rule. Available from Ohio State Law Journal, Ohio State University, 1659 North High Street, Columbus, Ohio 43210; sc…

Greater administrative accountability can result only from a replacement of the current "but-for" test with one that simply asks whether protected activity was a substantial cause of the decision to remove the employee. Available from the Yale Law Journal, 401A Yale Station, New Haven, CT 06520. (Author)

Examines the employment status of a nonprofessional school employee with reference to the procedural steps that a school administrative unit should use in dismissing him. The focus is on North Carolina case law, but the issues and the conclusions drawn are applicable to other states. (Author/IRT)