Holding Universities to Their Own Rules

Faculty Discipline, Dismissal & Academic Freedom

Universities write elaborate rules for disciplining faculty — and then, under pressure, cut corners on them. A dean imposes sanctions without the hearing the handbook requires. A non-renewal arrives without the notice the appointment letter promises. A professor is suspended over a controversial lecture or a research dispute. Wilkenfeld Law Office represents faculty in Washington, D.C. and Maryland in discipline, dismissal, and non-renewal disputes, and in matters where academic freedom is on the line.

Your Handbook Is a Contract

In higher education, the faculty handbook, appointment letter, bylaws, and written policies typically define the employment relationship, and courts in D.C. and Maryland will enforce them as contract terms. Most handbooks — drawing on AAUP standards — promise dismissal of tenured faculty only for adequate cause, notice of charges, a hearing before a faculty committee, and defined non-renewal notice periods for tenure-track faculty. When a university disregards those promises, the breach itself is actionable, independent of why the discipline was imposed. The first document we ask for in any faculty case is the handbook in force at the time of appointment.

Common Discipline and Dismissal Disputes

  • For-cause dismissal proceedings against tenured faculty — charges of misconduct, neglect of duty, or incompetence
  • Suspensions, removal from teaching, lab closures, and other sanctions imposed without required process
  • Non-renewal of tenure-track or contract faculty without the notice or reasons the policies require
  • Research-misconduct proceedings — allegations of fabrication, falsification, or plagiarism under federal ORI rules, where flawed inquiries can end careers and retaliation against good-faith whistleblowers is prohibited
  • Program eliminations and “restructurings” used to remove specific faculty while avoiding for-cause procedures
  • Discipline that is really retaliation — imposed after a discrimination complaint, a Title IX report, or protected whistleblowing

Academic Freedom: What the Law Actually Protects

Academic freedom lives in two places, and it matters which one you are relying on. At public universities, the First Amendment applies. The Supreme Court’s decision in Garcetti v. Ceballos (2006) generally strips protection from speech made as part of an employee’s official duties — but the Court expressly reserved whether that rule reaches academic scholarship and teaching. The federal appellate court covering Maryland answered that question in faculty’s favor, holding that Garcetti does not apply to a public professor’s scholarship and teaching, which remain protected speech. A Maryland state-university professor disciplined over the viewpoint of their scholarship, classroom instruction, or public commentary may have a constitutional claim.

At private universities, the First Amendment does not bind the institution. There, academic freedom is a creature of contract: most private-university handbooks adopt AAUP academic-freedom principles, and those provisions are enforceable like any other contractual promise. The claim is framed differently — breach of contract rather than constitutional violation — but the protection can be real. Faculty speech that reports discrimination or unlawful conduct is separately protected by anti-retaliation statutes at public and private institutions alike; see our whistleblower protection pages.

Due Process at Public Universities

Tenured faculty and contract faculty at public institutions — including Maryland’s public university system — typically hold a property interest in their positions. Constitutional due process therefore requires notice of the charges, an explanation of the evidence, and a meaningful opportunity to respond before dismissal, with a fuller post-termination process to follow. A public university that terminates first and hears later has a constitutional problem, not just a policy one.

Use the Internal Process — Strategically

Faculty grievance and hearing procedures are not empty ritual. The internal record — what charges were noticed, what evidence was produced, what the faculty committee found — often decides what any later lawsuit looks like. We counsel faculty through hearings and grievances while preserving legal claims, and we watch the deadlines that run alongside: internal appeal windows measured in weeks, and statutory deadlines for discrimination and retaliation claims that do not pause while a grievance is pending. If the endgame is a negotiated exit, our severance practice turns a forced departure into a structured one.

Frequently Asked Questions

In D.C. and Maryland, handbooks, appointment letters, and written university policies are typically enforceable as contract terms. If the handbook promises a faculty hearing before dismissal and you did not get one, that breach is actionable on its own — regardless of whether the underlying charges had merit.
It depends on where you teach. At public universities, the appellate court covering Maryland has held that Garcetti does not strip First Amendment protection from a professor’s teaching and scholarship — a real constitutional shield. At private universities, protection comes from the handbook’s academic-freedom provisions, enforced as contract. Either way, discipline over the viewpoint of your scholarship deserves a hard legal look.
Interim measures are common, but they have limits. At public universities, due process requires notice and a meaningful opportunity to respond before deprivations of your property interest in the job. At any university, the handbook’s own procedures govern — and sanctions imposed outside them, or interim measures that are punitive in everything but name, can be challenged.

Bottom Line

Universities wrote the rules; the law makes them keep their word. Whether your case turns on a skipped hearing, a retaliatory charge, or a lecture someone wanted silenced, the internal proceeding happening now is building the record a court will later read. Get counsel into that process early — before the record hardens against you.

Talk to a Faculty Discipline & Academic Freedom Attorney

If you are facing faculty discipline, dismissal, non-renewal, or sanctions involving your teaching or scholarship, Wilkenfeld Law Office can help protect your rights and hold your university accountable to its own procedures. Contact us for a free consultation.
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Or call 301.245.3035 · Intake@WilkenfeldLO.com

This article provides general information and is not legal advice. Contacting us does not create an attorney-client relationship.
Reviewed by Ari Wilkenfeld, Esq. (DC Bar No. 461063; MD Bar No. 9806240300). Ari has over 27 years of experience litigating in federal and state courts, and before the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC), the U.S. Merit Systems Protection Board (MSPB), and various arbitration panels. Ari has been recognized by Esquire Magazine as “a famously determined Civil Rights lawyer” and by the New York Post as “a high powered DC Lawyer.” Last updated: November 1, 2026.
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