Summary: Two William Mitchell College of Law professors filed a lawsuit on the school for a breach of contract when the school considered changing the tenure code. The lawsuit has now been dropped.
William Mitchell College of Law in St Paul, Minnesota is merging with another St Paul law school, Hamline University School of Law. In efforts to reduce faculty, two professors of William Mitchell claimed that their school was trying to change its tenure code.
Currently the code only allows the removal of tenured faculty for failing or refusing to do their job, or if the school is in financial crisis. The professors, John Radsan and Carl Moy say the school wanted to have the ability to dismiss tenured faculty without a reason. The lawsuit claimed that this effort was a breach of contract.
Radsan and Moy dropped their lawsuit and the order for dismissal was signed Thursday by a Ramsey County District Judge. The lawsuit was voluntarily dropped after the school reassured the professors that they would not be seeking to change the tenure code. Radsan and Moy felt that the lawsuit served its purpose and that was enough. No monetary value was needed. The lawsuit also claimed that the schools president and dean, Eric Janus, and associate dean, Mary Pat Byrn, were planning on firing faculty based on loyalty to them.
The school has shot back a response that Radsan and Moy have a track record of performance problems that made them unsure about the security of their jobs. The school states that they have the right to amend the tenure code and does not guarantee that it won’t amend it at a future date.
Mitchell and Hamline are merging due to the decrease in student enrollment.
Do you think the school should be able to change the parts of the tenure code that allows them to be released without reason? Tell us in the comments below the article.
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