The Court also affirmed the trial court's rejection of Bracco's due process liberty interest claim. As to the due process claim based on a liberty interest in his reputation, the trial court held the university did not do anything to create or enhance any stigma resulting from the termination of employment. A property right may come from contract or statute, but a public employee does not have a property right in continued employment when the position is held at the will of the employee's superiors and the employee has not been promised termination only for just cause. The latter theory, in its pure form, stemmed from the Supreme Court's common-law authority to recognize enforceable obligations that arise outside the operation of normal contract principles. Liability is nevertheless still premised on the parties' mutual assent to be bound.
Parties are free to bind themselves to whatever termination provisions they wish.
The court provided an extensive discussion of the Toussaint doctrine . Rather than repeating this extensive discussion, the reader is referred to the text of the opinion through the full text link . It is well to remember that, as a general rule, contracts of employment for an indefinite term are terminable at will by either party. However, the presumption of at-will employment may be overcome by proof of an express contract for a definite term or by a provision forbidding discharge without just cause. The test as to whether there was mutual assent to a just cause provision is an objective one, looking at the express words of the parties and their visible acts.