Opinion ID: 330296
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Procedural Due Process Right

Text: Liberty Right 6 This court held in Hostrop I that plaintiff had stated a deprivation of liberty under Board of Regents v. Roth, 408 U.S. 564, 92 S.Ct. 2701, 33 L.Ed.2d 548 (1972), in his allegation that the board had damaged his reputation by charging him with lack of veracity, 471 F.2d at 494, but the District Court found from the evidence that Hostrop himself had made public the board's charges when it had no intention of doing so. The court held that his standing in the community was therefore not injured by any action of the board, if it was damaged at all. We agree. Plaintiff's argument that he had to disclose the reasons to quell the rumors which were circulating does not establish that his reputation was injured by board action. Once the board decided to terminate plaintiff, the most it could do to prevent injury to his reputation was to maintain silence as to its reasons. See Shirck v. Thomas, 486 F.2d 691, 693 (7th Cir. 1973). The board is not responsible for plaintiff's decision that it would be better for his reputation to publish the reasons. Property Right 7 Hostrop I also held that plaintiff's complaint alleged facts showing a deprivation of a property right. 471 F.2d at 494. The District Court found, however, that plaintiff had no legitimate claim of entitlement to his job because he had deceived the board members by omitting from the form of renewal contract he submitted to them for approval a clause the earlier contract had contained requiring him to devote full time to his job as president. Defendants assert, as additional reasons that plaintiff does not have such a claim, that plaintiff's contract was void because its term exceeded one year, and that the deletion of the full-time clause prevented the meeting of minds requisite to the making of a contract. 8 We think plaintiff had a claim of entitlement amounting to a property interest within the meaning of Board of Regents v. Roth, Supra, 408 U.S. at 577-578, 92 S.Ct. 2701, and Perry v. Sindermann, 408 U.S. 593, 601-602, 92 S.Ct. 2694, 33 L.Ed.2d 570 (1972), even assuming that, as the District Court found, he deceived defendants by the manner in which he submitted the form for the new contract. Apart from the fact that the earlier contract, covering the period July 1, 1969 to June 30, 1971, would still have been in effect if the new contract had not superseded it, the new contract was at most voidable for fraud, not void. So long as there was a genuine dispute on the issue of fraud, plaintiff had a claim of entitlement that gave him a right to a hearing. The same is true with respect to the issue raised by the contention that there was no meeting of the minds, assuming that issue to be analytically different from the fraud issue. 9 Defendants' argument that both contracts were void because their terms exceeded one year is also without merit. Even if there were a one-year limitation under Illinois law, a contract would not, we think, be invalid in its entirety but only for the period in excess of one year. But our examination of Illinois law persuades us that the making of a contract for a term in excess of one year was within the authority of the board. 10 In arguing that both plaintiff's original and superseding two-year contracts were void Ab initio, defendants rely on Illinois cases holding it beyond the power of a school board to employ teachers for a period beyond a school year, a rule originally based on a construction of the statute, Stevenson v. School Directors, 87 Ill. 255, 257-258 (1877), and on the principle that one board should not be able to bind a later board, Id., at 258-259; Davis v. School Directors, 92 Ill. 293, 296 (1879). In the case at bar, the board, prior to the April 1970 board election, purported to extend plaintiff's contract until June 30, 1972, or two years beyond its term. After the mid-April election, the new board did not object to plaintiff's new contract and permitted him, on July 1, 1970, to commence serving under it. This adoption of the contract by the new board meant that plaintiff had a valid contract at least through June 30, 1971. This is so regardless of whether plaintiff was working under his original (1969-1971) or his superseding (1970-1972) contract. 11 Moreover, we think that the board was empowered to enter into contracts for a duration of longer than one year. In 1927, the Illinois General Assembly conferred on school boards the power to contract with teachers, principals, and superintendents for a period of three years, after expiration of a two-year probationary period. See Sloan v. School Directors of District No. 22, 373 Ill. 511, 26 N.E.2d 846 (1940). In Sloan the Illinois Supreme Court determined that the Stevenson And Davis cases, Supra, were no longer applicable because they were decided before the enactment of the 1927 law. 373 Ill. at 514, 26 N.E.2d at 847. Subsequently the Illinois Supreme Court said of the statute:The purpose of the General Assembly in enacting the statute is apparent, for it is in the best interests of the schools that competent and capable teachers be continued in their employment. It adds to the stability of the employment and works to the advantages not only of the public but to the teachers and those employed with the administration of school affairs. Pack v. Sporleder, 394 Ill. 130, 140, 67 N.E.2d 198, 203 (1946). 12 The law was later changed to enable school boards, after a probationary period, to contract for contractual continued service. See Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 122, § 24-11 (1969). 13 The tenure statute does not apply to a president of a college, but it was against the background of this statute that the Illinois General Assembly created the Junior College Boards by the Public Junior College Act, Ill.Rev.Stat. ch. 122, § 101-1 et seq. (1969). 1 Rather than determining the tenure policy for the junior colleges, as it had done for the public schools, the General Assembly provided that the board itself, which appoints the chief administrative officer, Id. § 103-26, should establish tenure policies for the employment of teachers and administrative personnel, Id. § 103-32. We think that the General Assembly intended, in using this language, not to reinstate for junior colleges the rule of the Stevenson and Davis cases, but to give the board authority to establish its own policies with respect to tenure, which in its broadest sense includes the limited tenure afforded by a contract calling for a term in excess of one year. 14 The defendant board has in fact established tenure and employment policies in its Policies and Procedures, paragraphs 4.35, 4.25, and 2.20. Teachers are appointed annually until they receive tenure and then on a continuous basis. Administrative personnel other than the president are appointed subject to the annual recommendation of the college president and approval of the board. The president can be appointed for more than one year: 15 The President of the College is selected by the Governing Board and under whatever terms are mutually agreed upon at the time of appointment. It will be the duty of the Board to renew the contract of the President of the College or to notify him in writing prior to the first of January in the last year of his incumbency that his services will not be required after the expiration of his present contract. 16 The compensation of the President of the College will be fixed by the Board at the time he is appointed. By mutual consent the compensation of the President may be adjusted before the start of any academic year. Policies and Procedures 2.20. 17 We therefore conclude that under the enabling statute and the board's own rules adopted pursuant to the statute, the board had authority to contract with the president of the college for a period of more than one year. Denial of Hearing 18 Our review of the evidence leaves us with the definite and firm conviction that plaintiff was never offered a fair hearing on termination, and that, in fact, the board prejudged his case before making any hearing available to him. There can be no real dispute that before the special session of the board on July 23, 1970, when plaintiff was to be afforded a hearing, the board had already decided to terminate him, and had in fact made a commitment to another person to hire that person as interim president. The board having prejudged the matter of plaintiff's termination before the July 23 meeting, and being no longer therefore a tribunal possessing apparent impartiality, as required by Hostrop I, 471 F.2d at 495, plaintiff did not waive his right to a hearing by absenting himself from that meeting. 19 The termination of plaintiff's employment without affording him the notice and hearing required by Board of Regents v. Roth and Perry v. Sindermann is actionable despite the District Court's findings and conclusion, which we do not disturb, that the conduct of plaintiff was such as to constitute cause under state law for termination of his employment. This is made clear by the last sentence of footnote 15 of Hostrop I, where the court recognized that despite the existence of grounds to break an employment contract, doing so by violating an employee's due process rights to notice and a hearing is nevertheless actionable. 471 F.2d at 494 n. 15.