A media report recounts the experience of a University of Central Florida associate professor of psychology whom the university fired for tweeting about a controversial subject. The professor pursued an arbitration proceeding against the university, claiming that he had a First Amendment right to comment on the subject and that the university only fired him because of the virulent attacks of a social media mob. The professor indeed proved to an arbitrator that his firing violated his First Amendment rights. The arbitrator reinstated the professor, finding that the university didn't have the good cause required to uphold the firing.

College and University Discipline

Sadly, the media report suggested that the university hadn't learned any lesson from its arbitration loss and public embarrassment. On the contrary, the university released a public statement saying, in essence, that it would do it all over again. The university did say that it would abide, as it lawfully must, by the arbitrator's ruling. But apparently, First Amendment rights remain in peril at the university. The incident may be yet another example of the oppressive disciplinary actions that some colleges and universities continue to pursue, actions that federal appeals Judge Jose Cabranes criticized as “deeply troubling” in the case of Vengalattore v Cornell University. The Vengalattore case, like the University of Central Florida case, resulted in the fired professor's reinstatement. Other cases have reached similar results, reinstating wrongly expelled students and unjustly fired professors.

Lessons to Learn

There are lessons to learn, though, from these unfortunate and damaging school disciplinary incidents. A first lesson is that colleges and universities should be affording due process to their students when threatening suspension or expulsion and to their employees when threatening to fire. Students and employees of public colleges and universities have due process rights, meaning the school must give them notice of the disciplinary charges and a fair opportunity for a hearing before an impartial decision-maker. Students and employees of private schools often have similar rights under contracts and other assurances.

The other lesson to learn is that colleges and universities continue to resist their due process obligations, requiring that students and employees facing disciplinary charges retain highly qualified school discipline defense attorney representation. Aggressive attorney representation ensures that the school follows its procedures. It also enables the student or employee to call witnesses, present evidence, and challenge the school's evidence, to disprove false, unsupported, and exaggerated charges. Your best move when facing discipline is to promptly retain highly qualified counsel.

School Discipline Defense Attorney Available

National school discipline defense attorney Joseph D. Lento and the Lento Law Firm's defense team are available nationwide to represent college and university students and employees facing disciplinary charges. Call 888.535.3686 or go online now to retain the premier school discipline defense attorney you need for a winning defense of charges.