Question

Two full-time faculty members and three adjuncts were identified for ignoring their ethical responsibilities and contributing to negligence toward issues of academic misconduct. Assistant Professor Mark Day was one of the five professors identified in the report. The findings were published during a press conference in May 2016. The dean of the College of Business, Derrick Dawson, removed Day's responsibilities for advising graduate students and scheduled him for undergraduate courses for the next semester. Day filed suit in a federal district court against Dawson, the university, and others for violating his due process rights by publicizing accusations about his role in plagiarism without providing him with a meaningful opportunity to clear his name in public. What does due process require in these circumstances? Would the outcome be different if a mandatory arbitration clause was provided in Day’s contract and the university filed to dismiss the suit to require arbitration?

Answer 1

Due process requires that Assistant Professor Mark Day be given a fair chance to defend himself against accusations before being penalized. If a mandatory arbitration clause existed in his contract, the case may be resolved privately through arbitration rather than publicly in court.

Step-by-step explanation:

Due process refers to the legal principle that a person must be given a fair opportunity to present their case and defend themselves before any governmental deprivation of life, liberty, or property. In the context of Assistant Professor Mark Day's case, due process would require that he be given an opportunity to clear his name and respond to the accusations of academic misconduct before any punitive actions, such as the removal of his responsibilities, are taken against him.

If there was a mandatory arbitration clause in Day's contract, the university could request that the lawsuit be dismissed in favor of arbitration. Arbitration is a alternative dispute resolution process where a neutral third party, the arbitrator, hears the evidence from both sides and makes a decision. The result could be different, as the arbitration process is private and the findings are not typically made public, which could affect Day's public reputation differently than a court case.