Teachers' Rights:
Craig v. Asheville City Bd. of Educ. (2001)—The firm prevailed in the North Carolina Court of Appeals after the court held that probationary teachers have a right to trial over the non-renewal of their contracts.
Boring v. Buncombe County Bd. of Educ. (1998)—The firm prevailed in the Fourth Circuit, which held that public school teachers have First Amendment rights.
Warren v. New Hanover County Bd. of Educ. (1991)—the North Carolina Court of Appeals unanimously ruled that a local teacher association leader who publicized a teacher survey critical of the school system's merit pay program stated a claim under the First Amendment when he alleged retaliation for his actions. The same court ruled in this and a companion case that teachers maintain the right to appeal adverse decisions from their local school boards to Superior Court, even when, as was the case in these merit pay matters, the merit pay statute stated that the Board of Education's decision was "final."
Crump v. Bd. of Educ. (1990)—the North Carolina Supreme Court affirmed a school teacher's jury verdict of $76,000.00 in a case brought pursuant to 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for being forced to endure a dismissal hearing before a school board containing one member who was biased against him.
Thompson v. Wake County Bd. of Educ. (1977)—the North Carolina Supreme Court construed the new Teacher Tenure Act to afford teachers substantive protections against unwarranted discharge and to provide meaningful judicial review.
Chambers v. Hendersonville City Bd. of Educ. (1966)—black teachers brought suit after only 8 out of 24 were rehired when the school board closed its only black school as part of a desegregation plan. The Fourth Circuit, en banc, held that the discharges were unlawful since the school board did not evaluate the plaintiffs together with all other teachers in the system in making its layoff decisions. Chambers was an important early case in establishing protections for black educators as school districts desegregated.
