Opinion · Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit

Taliaferro v. Willett

588 F.2d 428

Type
Opinion
Court
Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit
Jurisdiction
Federal
Date
1978-12-06
Topic
bankruptcy

How later courts describe this case

  • holding that a tenured teacher’s claim for continued employment did not present a substantial federal question

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Cited by
7 opinions
TALIAFERRO v. WILLETT,588 F.2d 428(4th Cir. 1978)
RUTH TALIAFERRO AND B. PATRICIA DYSON, APPELLEES, v. HENRY I. WILLETT, JR.,
PRESIDENT, LONG WOOD COLLEGE; WILLIAM E. DANIEL, JR., LONGWOOD COLLEGE,
APPELLANTS, AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF UNIVERSITY PROFESSORS, AMICUS CURIAE.
No. 77-2213.
United States Court of Appeals, Fourth Circuit.
Argued November 13, 1978.
Decided December 6, 1978.
William H. Hefty, Asst. Atty. Gen., Richmond, Va. (Marshall Coleman, Atty. Gen. of Va., and Walter H. Ryland, Deputy Atty. Gen., Richmond, Va., on brief), for appellants.

John D. Grad, Alexandria, Va. (Victor M. Glasberg and Janis L. McDonald, Hirschkop Grad, P. C., Alexandria, Va., on brief), for appellee.

Sandra B. Durant, New York City, Counsel for American Ass'n of University Professors, on brief, for amicus curiae.
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia.
Before BUTZNER, Circuit Judge, FIELD, Senior Circuit Judge, and WIDENER, Circuit Judge.
PER CURIAM:
[1] The president and the rector of Longwood College appeal a judgment awarding Ruth S. Taliaferro substantial compensatory damages under42 U.S.C. § 1983because the college wrongfully required her to retire prematurely from her tenured position. The district court concluded that the officials had denied Taliaferro procedural due process. Relying on our decisions inThomas v.Ward,529 F.2d 916(4th Cir. 1975), andBurt v. Board ofTrustees,521 F.2d 1201(4th Cir. 1975), the court found Taliaferro entitled to recover five years' back pay.

[2] InCarey v. Piphus,435 U.S. 247,259-60and n. 15,98 S.Ct. 1042,55 L.Ed.2d 252(1978), decided after the district court's judgment in this case, the Supreme Court disapprovedThomasandBurt. Careyheld that, absent proof of other compensable tort injury, a plaintiff deprived of procedural due process can recover only nominal damages.

[3] As the district court noted in its memorandum opinion, the procedures to which a tenured professor is entitled prior to termination are not the main issue in this case. Taliaferro's claim is essentially an action for contract damages arising from the allegedPage 429violation of a tenured professor's right to teach until reaching the age of seventy. Neither here nor in the district court has she suggested that procedural deprivations caused her independent injury. In light ofCarey,therefore, the controversy over the alleged breach of contract presents no substantial federal question.See Berry v. City of Portsmouth,562 F.2d 307(4th Cir. 1977);Heath v. City of Fairfax,542 F.2d 1236,1238(4th Cir. 1976).

[4] Consequently, the judgment of the district court is vacated, and the case is remanded with directions to dismiss for lack of a substantial federal question. We, of course, express no opinion on Taliaferro's claim for compensatory damages. Each party shall bear its own costs.

[5] Vacated and Remanded.Page 904