: 1980s & 1990s
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.
