Tenure Law – Constitutional Violation

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Joseph R. Elliott v. Board of School Trustees of Madison Consolidated Schools, et al.

Case No.: 16-4168

Officials: BAUER, EASTERBROOK, and HAMILTON, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Tenure Law – Constitutional Violation

In 2012, an Indiana law took effect amending the State’s teacher tenure law to cut back on the rights of tenured teachers in layoffs. The issue in this appeal is whether the new law violates the Contract Clause rights of a teacher who had tenure before the law took effect.

In 2012, defendant Board of Trustees for Madison Consolidated Schools relied on the new law to lay off plaintiff Joseph Elliott, a teacher who earned tenure fourteen years before the new law took effect, while it retained non-tenured teachers in positions for which Elliott was qualified. Elliott sued, claiming that the amendment violated the Constitution when applied to him. The district court granted summary judgment in Elliott’s favor. Elliott v. Board of School Trustees of Madison Consol. Schools, 2015 WL 1125022 (S.D. Ind. March 12, 2015). We affirm.

Affirmed

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Attorney Derek A. Hawkins is the managing partner at Hawkins Law Offices LLC, where he heads up the firm’s startup law practice. He specializes in business formation, corporate governance, intellectual property protection, private equity and venture capital funding and mergers & acquisitions. Check out the website at www.hawkins-lawoffices.com or contact them at 262-737-8825.