Hearing dates are pending as Emporia State University challenges state decisions to reinstate several professors.
Lyon County District Court is set to have separate hearings for cases involving professors Michael Behrens, Rob Catlett, Dan Colson and Amanda Miracle, with the Kansas Office of Administrative Hearings as co-defendants in each individual case. Court proceedings available on the Kansas District Court Public Access Portal cite Emporia State as arguing OAH did not have jurisdiction to reverse the dismissals or misapplied the law in these cases, saying the Kansas Board of Regents’ appeals policy only allows OAH or its representatives to rule on ESU’s decision to terminate — not any part of the appeal or grievance process following the university’s personnel decision. ESU says the OAH decision to reinstate the professors dealt with the notice involved, not the university’s decision to terminate the professors in question. ESU also says the OAH decision to reinstate was made without substantial evidence to overturn the university decisions.
ESU is asking Lyon County District Court to reverse, set aside or stay the OAH orders in these cases.
The requested legal reviews are the latest step in Emporia State’s ongoing personnel saga resulting from its Framework for Workforce Management, requested by ESU to the Board of Regents in early September and approved by the Regents later in the month. The plan set up Emporia State’s ongoing reinvestment and realignment announcements, but it also led almost immediately to the dismissals of over 30 employees, most of whom were tenured or tenure-track professors. The professors in these cases had appealed their dismissals, saying ESU gave no reason for their respective terminations.
