Bishop v. Wood

Bishop v. Wood (1976) dealt with an employment dispute between a former police officer and the city for which he worked. Bishop provides two key legal propositions for public employees generally, including educators in public schools who are subject to dismissal from their jobs. First, Bishop makes it clear that interpretations of state law determine whether constitutionally protected property interests in public employment exist, such as tenure or other interests involving continued employment. Second, Bishop stands for the notion that if officials do not reveal the reasons for dismissing public employees, then they will not have violated the liberty interests of the former employees, even if the reasons were false.