Tenured Law Professor Seeks Declaratory Judgment that She Was Wrongfully Terminated

Professor Lauren Gilbert (left) has taught at the St. Thomas University School of Law since 2002, with tenure since 2009.  On July 18th of this year, she was informed by letter that her employment was terminated, effective July 19th. Here attorney tells the story over at The Faculty Lounge. The termination letter stated grounds for her termination.

Last week, Professor Gilbert filed a complaint seeking a declaratory judgment stating that she was wrongfully terminated.  She seeks reinstatement and back pay.  According to the complaint, Professor Gilbert was not terminated in accordance with procedures set out in the University’s Faculty Handbook.  Until such procedures are complied with, according to the complaint, Professor Gilbert is entitled to retain her position and her salary.  

The grounds for the termination have a something old, something new, something troubling, something trivial aspect to them.  There was a serious incident in 2010 which resulted in her suspension without pay for two weeks.  There are serious allegations of a non-chalant response to an active shooter situation in 2022, which resulted in a written reprimand.  And then there were a number of incidents in the past academic year that sound to me like what happens when a faculty is factionalized and some faculty think that the administration is taking actions without proper consultation with faculty.  I have been on such a faculty, and many of us behaved badly at times.  Nobody was fired.  And in fact, much as we bickered behind close doors, faculty members continued to do their jobs, and I think we presented a united front for the students for the most part.  The last straw for St. Thomas’s administration  (I’m not making this up) was that Professor Gilbert did not attend graduation.  Although she gave one month’s notice that she would not attend, she neither sought nor received permission to skip the event.  This, the administration characterized as “yet another act of insubordination by you.” Cue the gif of a soccer player pretending to writhe on the pitch in pain after tripping over a blade of grass.

The termination letter then goes on to quote something called the St. Thomas University Employee Handbook, which the University claims trumps the Faculty Handbook with respect to matters “outside of the classroom and/or academic pursuits.” This case will have faculty members running to check out their own university’s employee handbook, of whose existence they are, at most, dimly aware.  In any case, it is some sort of a problem, although perhaps not a justiciable one, if there is significant daylight between what the Employee Handbook permits the University to do and tenure guarantees required by the relevant accrediting agencies.

Stay tuned.  Let us hope for a happy resolution for all involved.