Opinion ID: 772253
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: Whether Public Interest Would be Served by Issuance of the Injunction

Text: 104 The district court found that the issuance of the injunction would not cause harm to the College, and that the public interest would be served by issuance of the injunction because the First Amendment interests of Plaintiff and the public would be advanced. However, as we explained when balancing the parties' interests in this case, the injunction may cause harm to the students because without the College's enforcement of the sexual harassment policy and measures to protect its students from retaliation by a disgruntled professor, students may be forced to endure a hostile learning environment and may be intimidated into remaining silent. Moreover, without proper investigation of the sexual harassment Complaint, and appropriate response thereto, the College potentially compromises some of its funding. We do not find that Plaintiff's alleged harm outweighs the potential harm to others. See United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Local 1099 v. Southwest Ohio Reg'l Transit Auth., 163 F.3d 341, 362 (6th Cir. 1998) (noting that the harm to the plaintiff's First Amendment rights should the preliminary injunction not be issued must be weighed against the harm to others from the granting of the injunction). 105 Overall, the public interest would not be served in issuing the injunction. The very reason that allegations of sexual harassment inherently address a matter of public concern is because of the public interest in knowing that such goings on are properly investigated and not allowed to continue in any given arena. By issuing the injunction in this case, the district court usurped the College's attempt at maintaining a learning environment free of harassment and hostility in accordance with its sexual harassment policy. Again, we are not being asked to adjudicate the propriety of the College's sexual harassment policy. To the extent that the policy is in place, and that the College repeatedly warned Plaintiff that his actions were in violation thereof, we do not believe that the public interest was served by enjoining the College from enforcing its policy. 106 As we stated at the outset of this discussion, a preliminary injunction is reserved for only the most egregious case, and should not be extended to cases which are doubtful or do not come within well-established principles of law. See Detroit Newspaper Publishers. Ass'n, 471 F.2d at 876. Plaintiff's suspension without pay from his teaching position at a community college commencing August 18, 1999 and ending December 18, 1999 wherein Plaintiff's fringe benefits remained in effect, did not rise to the level of requiring such extraordinary relief, particularly in a case such as this where it was not well-established whether the acts of expression for which Plaintiff was disciplined were protected under the First Amendment.