Perry v. Sindermann

At issue in Perry v. Sindermann (1972) was whether a college faculty member's lack of a contractual or tenure right to re-employment, taken alone, defeats his claim that the nonrenewal of his contract violated the First and Fourteenth Amendments. The U.S Supreme Court held in Perry that it did not. Although a government employer may choose not to renew a contract for any number of reasons, it may not deny a contract extension to a faculty member on a basis that infringes on his constitutional rights, particularly the rights to freedom of speech and association, the court ruled.

Tenured faculty members in colleges and universities, in a manner similar to their colleagues in elementary and secondary schools, have property interests in continued employment, and they are ...