Philosophy professor Charles Emmer and 10 different staff have filed a federal lawsuit in opposition to Emporia State College, who terminated their employment final September.
The lawsuit contains allegations that the college engaged in wrongful termination and retaliation for efforts to prepare a labor union.
On January 20, 2021, Emporia State College (ESU) enacted a short lived pandemic measure to deal with monetary difficulties related to the pandemic. In line with the Kansas State Board of Regents, the policy allowed that:
…any state college worker, together with a tenured school member, could also be suspended, dismissed, or terminated from employment by their respective college.
The measures have been set to run out July 1, 2022. A number of weeks earlier than this deadline, the measures have been prolonged to December 31, 2022.
On September 15, 2022, three months previous to the expiration of the pandemic associated measures, ESU laid-off 33 college staff below the pandemic measures, approximately 30 of whom were tenure or tenure-track at the time. A majority of the school affected were in the humanities, but faculty outside the humanities have been additionally affected. Amongst these staff who have been laid-off was philosophy Professor Charles Emmer, who was tenured on the time and is now celebration to the federal go well with introduced in opposition to ESU.
Along with worker lay-offs, the college additionally engaged in restructuring of chosen educational departments and applications, which largely concerned the “cutting, merging, or downgrading” of these departments and applications. This included the (now defunct) philosophy division and philosophy minor (there was no philosophy main previous to the restructuring). The restructuring additionally left the college with just one philosophy professor, Charles Brown, to show its philosophy programs.
The terminated ESU school appealed the choice by the Kansas Workplace of Administrative Listening to (OAH) who granted an preliminary reinstatement for 5 of the terminated instructors as a result of ESU “failed to provide specific reasons for firing them” and later reinstated philosophy professor Charles Emmer. Different school have been denied reinstatement, whereas nonetheless others await a call from the OAH. Earlier than the OAH declares a call on the remaining school appeals, ESU petitioned the choice by the Lyons County District Courtroom difficult all reinstatements by the OAH. Attorneys on each side agreed to postpone any further decisions by the OAH till the district case is resolved.
Final month, 11 of the terminated school filed a federal lawsuit in opposition to ESU. The lawsuit summarizes the fees being introduced in opposition to ESU by the terminated school as follows:
This motion is introduced pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983, 1985 and 1988 to redress violations of Plaintiffs’ constitutional rights by Defendants. Particularly, Plaintiffs on this motion possess the property proper in tenure in reference to their employment on the Emporia State College (“ESU”). The Defendants, every of them, participated in a large number of conspiracies to terminate Plaintiffs, and others of comparable background and standing as tenure. As well as, pursuant to Kansas legislation arising out of the identical information and circumstances, Plaintiffs assert State legislation claims in opposition to Defendants.
In whole, the lawsuit advances 14 prices in opposition to ESU. The fees embody violation of plaintiff’s federal constitutional rights to due course of, liberty, equal safety, and freedom of affiliation. The lawsuit additionally alleges that ESU violated sections 1 and a pair of of the Kansas Structure Invoice of Rights, which focuses on due course of and equal safety. 7 of the 14 prices are allegations associated to civil conspiracy to commit the alleged acts.
In an extra twist, the federal lawsuit in opposition to ESU alleges not simply that ESU violated varied constitutional rights interrelated to tenure, but additionally that ESU “had no rational foundation in creating, adopting and implementing the [pandemic measures] aside from an illegal function”. That illegal function was to eradicate tenured school who have been perceived to be “problematic to ESU Administration”. The terminated school have been labeled as problematic for a number of causes, together with energetic participation in College Senate, expression of ESU essential views, efforts to prepare a labor union, and a notion or perception that the school have “Democratic or liberal views”.
A number of weeks earlier than the submitting of the federal lawsuit in opposition to ESU, the Kansas State Board of Regents introduced a plan to judge and restructure the remaining six public universities inside Kansas. There’s hypothesis that the “ESU Mannequin” will probably be utilized in these different instances. Additional, the choice seems to have support from state legislators. Dan Hawkins, Kansas Consultant and Speaker of the Home says:
Emporia State College has targeted on investing within the applications that college students and the employers who rent them need and wish. As legislators, working with our greater schooling establishments to ship the most effective worth to their college students and graduates will go a great distance towards increase a sturdy employee pool, one thing I hear from throughout all industries that they’re in determined want of. The Emporia State Mannequin is about ‘right-sizing’ for the wants of scholars and companies in Kansas and I imagine it’s actually the way in which ahead for all greater schooling establishments in our state.
ESU President, Mr. Ken Hush, is quoted as saying:
We guarantee you that educational freedom, the safeguard[s] of due course of, and the custom of tenure are as helpful now as they’ve at all times been to our establishment, and the abrogation or abandonment of these ideas performed no half in any way in any of the selections made, or processes adopted, relating to the lay-off of any ESU worker on September 15, 2022.
Although the college’s actions have been defended by the Kansas State Board of Regents and Kansas legislators, the American Affiliation of College Professors has chastised both the ESU Administration and Board of Regents as:
…having demonstrated by their actions an virtually whole disregard for the establishment of tenure and the precept of educational freedom.
Updates to the article will probably be made as data turns into out there.
If you want to help the terminated professors’ authorized protection, you may find their GoFundMe page here.
