Law Professors Sue Law School for Breach of Contract

We saw this report over on the Faculty Lounge.  This is fallout from the proposed merger of Hamline University School of Law and the William Mitchell College of Law (William Mitchell).  Two William Mitchell faculty members are claiming that the merger, which will necessitate the elimination of two tenured faculty lines, is a a breach of contract.  

The Complaint alleges that law schools must comply with ABA Standard 405(b) by maintaining policies for academic freedom and tenure.  William Mitchell has a faculty handbook that incorporates the AAUP’s 1940 Statement on Academic Freedom, which regards tenure as indispensable to such freedom.  Under William Mitchell’s Tenure Code, tenured professors may only be dismissed for adequate cause or in cases of “bona fide financial exigency.”  

In February, when the merger of the two law schools was proposed, William Mitchell announced that is was considering amendments to its Tenure Code to permit termination of tenure based on a merger.  Plaintiffs allege that William Mitchell now intends to amend its Tenure Code to permit termination of tenure even if the merger does not go through, to permit termination of tenure without cause and without declaring the existence of a financial exigency.  

Plaintiffs seek a judgment declaring that the proposed amendment to William Mitchell’s Tenure Code would constitute a breach of contract.