BRUCE TUCKMAN, APPELLANT,
v.
THE FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY, APPELLEE
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Tuckman, a tenured professor serving as dean at Florida State University, appealed an administrative order after the university relieved him of his deanship duties while retaining him as a full-time, full-salary tenured professor. The court affirmed that the university did not breach the employment contract because the contract contained no specification of duties and university policy authorized the president to reassign academic deans.
The university did not breach the employment contract. Because the contract did not guarantee any specific duties or responsibilities, and university policy and state law authorized the president to appoint, remove, and reassign academic deans, the reassignment of Tuckman's duties constituted no breach of contract.
[1] A university president has the statutory authority to appoint, remove, and reassign academic deans.
[2] An employment contract for a dean that does not specify duties or responsibilities does not guarantee the dean any particular duties.
Previewing 2 of 4 headnotes on this case. FLexlaw’s editorially structured points of law — every proposition, pinpointed — are reserved for members.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligence“deans serve at the pleasure of the president of the university and subject to his assignment of duties”
Establishes the foundational principle that deans' positions are not fixed and can be reassigned by the president
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Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceIn September 1984, Tuckman entered a twelve-month employment contract as dean of the College of Education, classified as 'dean and professor' with spe…
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WENTWORTH, Judge.
Appellant Bruce Tuckman seeks review of an administrative order entered by Florida State University, determining that the university did not breach an employment contract. We agree that the university did not breach the contract by its reassignment of duties, and we affirm the order appealed.
The parties entered into a twelve-month employment contract in September 1984, pursuant to which Tuckman served as dean of the College of Education. This contract specified Tuckman’s salary and classified him as “dean and professor,” but contained no description of Tuckman's duties or responsibilities as dean. In July 1985 Tuck-man was notified by the university that he was being relieved of his responsibilities as dean. He continued to be employed as a tenured professor, retaining full salary and benefits for the remainder of the contract term.
Tuckman contested this action and requested an administrative hearing. The university issued a final order pursuant to informal proceedings, finding that the parties’ contract had not been breached. Tuckman appealed, and this court reversed the university’s order and remanded the case for a formal hearing. See Tuckman v. Florida State University, 489 So. 2d 133 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986).
A formal hearing was then held and the hearing officer found that Tuckman was a faculty member without tenure in a deanship. The hearing officer also found that although the university had committed a technical breach of contract, Tuckman sustained no monetary damages. The university subsequently entered a final order, adopting the hearing officer’s findings and conclusions except as to the technical breach. The university determined that the contract had not been breached.
The evidence before the hearing officer established that as a matter of university policy and practice deans serve at the pleasure of the president of the university and subject to his assignment of duties. Section 240.227(5), Florida Statutes (1984), and Rule 6C-4.01(2), F.A.C. (1984), authorized university presidents to appoint, remove, and reassign academic deans. The parties’ contract did not guarantee Tuck-man any specific duties or responsibilities as dean. He retained his assigned rank throughout the full contract term, and continued to serve as a faculty member at his full salary under the contract. In these circumstances the university was entitled to conclude as a matter of law, in accordance with section 120.57(l)(b)(10), Florida Statutes, that the reassignment of Tuck-man’s duties did not constitute a breach of the contract of employment.
The order appealed is affirmed.
SMITH, C.J., and WIGGINTON, J., concur.
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Cited By
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Phillip G. Spiegel, M.D. v. Univ. OF S. Fla., 555 So. 2d 428 (Fla. 2d DCA 1989)…perty interest in the benefits flowing from his chairmanship as well as his tenured position of professor entitling him to the procedural protections of Chapter 6C4-10, Florida Administrative Code. USF relies on Tuckman v. Florida State University, 530 So. 2d 1041 (Fla. 1st DCA 1988) (Tuckman II), in support of its position that Dr. Spiegel holds no protected rights in his position. The only significant aspect of Tuckman II lies in the fact that the foregoing opinion followed an earlier remand from the first…
Authorities Cited
- Darin Collins v. State, 489 So. 2d 133 (Fla. 1st DCA 1986)