Examining Loudermill: Employment, Dishonesty and Due Process

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Name of the Case: Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill, 470 U.S. 532, 1985. 2. Facts: In 1979, the Cleveland Board of Education hired James Loudermill as a security guard. Loudermill had stated on his job application that he had never been convicted of a felony. While conducting an examination of Loudermill’s employment records approximately eleven months later, the Board of Education discovered that he had actually been convicted of grand larceny, a felony, in 1968. The Board of Education’s business manager sent Loudermill a letter informing him that he had been dismissed due to dishonesty on his original job application. Loudermill was never given a chance to challenge the charge of dishonesty or his termination. As a “classified civil servant” under Ohio state law he could only be …show more content…

His complaint alleged that his termination was unconstitutional because he was not given an opportunity to respond to the charges against him before his removal. As a result he was deprived of liberty and property (steady employment) without due process under the Fourteenth Amendment. The District Court ruled that his due process rights were not violated. However, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals heard a consolidated appeal: Loudermill’s case together with another similar case (Cleveland Board of Education v Donnelly). The court reversed, in part, the previous decision and stated that the Board of Education had, in fact, violated Loudermill’s due process rights by removing his property right (to employment) before giving him a chance to respond to the charges against him. 3. Main Issue: Can a state remove a civil service employee’s property rights to employment before giving that employee an opportunity to respond to the charges which are the cause for the termination? 4. Court Deciding: United States Supreme Court. 5. Decision: Summary judgment affirming the decision of the Appeals

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