Opinion ID: 195596
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Failure to Provide an Explanation of Employer's Evidence

Text: 34 When a public employee's tenured status is threatened, he is entitled to an explanation of the substance of the employer's evidence against him so that he can present his side of the story. Loudermill, 470 U.S. at 546, 105 S.Ct. at 1495. Based on the present record, it appears that the individual defendants failed to provide Cotnoir with an explanation of their evidence against him regarding the academic incident in question. During the course of his investigation, Randall met with Cotnoir, as well as a number of Cotnoir's colleagues and people who were otherwise involved, to determine precisely what had occurred. Randall summarized his investigation in the report which he submitted to Connick. Connick, however, never showed the report to Cotnoir; nor did anyone else. No one ever informed Cotnoir of the substance of Randall's interviews with his colleagues. Nor did anyone otherwise tell Cotnoir what in essence the evidence against him was. Therefore, Cotnoir had no way to know what the extent of the evidence was, what his alleged role in the whole scheme was, and the seriousness with which the UMA viewed the incident. Cotnoir therefore did not have an opportunity to respond to, or defend himself against the evidence presented. A reasonable official should have known that this failure to explain the evidence against an individual violated one of the basic procedural due process requirements.