Haegert v. University of Evansville
Indiana Supreme Court
977 N.E.2d 924 (2012)
- Written by Mike Begovic, JD
Facts
John Haegert (plaintiff) was a tenured professor in the English Department at the University of Evansville (Evansville) (defendant), a private university in Indiana. Haegert’s contract obligated him to perform all duties and responsibilities imposed by the university and its policies. Under the contract, failure to do so was grounds for termination. Evansville had a faculty manual that contained a sexual-harassment policy. Sexual harassment was defined as any unwelcome sexual advance if such conduct had the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with the workplace environment. Haegert had been accused of making inappropriate comments around female students and touching students inappropriately. This behavior resulted in formal complaints and a conversation with the university’s affirmative-action officer. In one particular incident, Haegert walked in on a meeting between Margaret McMullen, the English Department head, and a prospective student, referring to McMullen as “sweetie” and touching her neck and chin. This incident triggered another formal complaint and a disciplinary-review process. A review committee issued a report, concluding that Haegert had violated the university’s sexual-harassment policy. Haegert was given an opportunity to be heard during the process. Evansville terminated Haegert, citing a violation of the sexual-harassment policy. Haegert filed a complaint against Evansville, alleging that it breached its contract with him by rescinding his tenure and that it did not afford him due process. A trial court granted Evansville’s motion for summary judgment. A court of appeals reversed, finding that Evansville did not meet its burden of proving sexual harassment.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (David, J.)
What to do next…
Here's why 816,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.