Opinion ID: 2389156
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 3

Heading: Special Treatment

Text: Having decided that the college could institute its compulsory retirement program, we must now decide whether it should be applied to Professor Drans, who was 58 at the time the policy first became effective. Amicus AAUP contends that the college should be compelled to make some type of adjustment that will cushion the financial and emotional shock suffered by the professor's departure from academia's front lines. Support for this belief can be found in another joint study by the AAUAAC, which resulted in the 1950 Statement on Retirement. When a new retirement policy or annuity plan is initiated or an old one changed, reasonable provision either by special financial arrangements or by the gradual inauguration of the new plan should be made for those adversely affected. Academic Retirement and Related Subjects, 36 AAUP Bull. 97, 116 (1950). In its accompanying report, the joint committee explained the necessity for the requirement as follows: The Committee would particularly emphasize the necessity of making equitable provisions for any staff member who may be adversely affected by a change in the retirement policy or plans of the institution with which he is associated. When long inattention is suddenly changed into action, long-time policies are sometimes initiated without reasonable provisions for those adversely affected. If, for instance, it has been customary to allow faculty members to teach until well after 70, and a fixed retirement age of, say, 68 is suddenly established, all of those past or nearing that age have their expectations suddenly changed unless special financial provisions are made for them or the plan is initiated gradually. Academic Retirement and Related Subjects, 36 AAUP Bull. 97, 110 (1950). Amicus Boston University refers to a report by a subcommittee of the Association of American Law Schools (AALS), which concluded that a compulsory retirement policy may be changed in good faith and made applicable to all, including those with tenure, if it does not defeat reasonable expectations. Proceedings of the Association of American Law Schools, 1969, Part II, at 178-81. Obviously, as we examine the AAUP's advocacy of the adversely affected approach and study the AALS's reasonable expectations theory, we see that both the professoriate and the administration recognize that there may be times when the college administration, because of its desire to maintain institutional flexibility, must make some type of an accommodation so that the economic security expectations of the tenured may be preserved. Equally clear is the fact that no fixed formula exists by which a determination can be made as to which tenured retiree is entitled to receive special consideration. However, there are several factors which merit consideration, including: (1) the length of time remaining between the announcement of the retirement plan or its modification and its actual application to the faculty member; (2) the age of the professor; (3) the professor's ability and willingness to teach beyond the retirement date; (4) the extent to which the unexpected retirement may be financially burdensome; (5) the prior notice, if any, the professor had that retirement was in the offing; [3] (6) the type of pension plan, if any, available at the institution; and (7) whether the retirement plan contains a provision whereby the responsible authority is given discretion to make annual appointments of faculty members that extend beyond the retirement date. Having suggested some of the criteria that might be considered as we deal with the special treatment phase of this controversy, we can do no more because we believe that the professor's eligibility for a reasonable transition provision is best resolved, at least initially, in the Superior Court. Since we have stressed throughout this opinion that disputes involving tenure and retirement should be resolved by referring to the reasonable expectations within the academic community, after remand, evidence can be adduced in the Superior Court on the question as to what has been done, if anything, for those teachers who have found themselves in the same position as was Professor Drans when he learned that compulsory retirement was to be a way of academic life at Providence College. In remanding the case to the Superior Court, we would emphasize that we have ruled that the college had the authority to institute a retirement policy for all its faculty members, including those with tenure, but that this power is limited by an implied obligation to make reasonable transition provisions when the common practice within the academic community, would dictate such a course of action. The plaintiff's appeal is sustained, the judgment appealed from is vacated, and the case is remanded to the Superior Court for further proceedings. PAOLINO and JOSLIN, JJ., did not participate.