Adverse employment actions and public school administrators: an analysis of litigation, 1981-2010

The purpose of this research study was to examine adverse employment actions levied against school administrators, which, for the purpose of this study, included public school principals and assistant principals. The adverse employment actions considered in this study were demotions, reassignments, suspensions, and terminations. These employment actions have led to a considerable amount of litigation. The study focused upon court cases from 1981-2010 where administrators had contested the actions taken against them by school systems. These cases led the research study to focus on three distinct areas of data. Those areas were the actions of school systems that school administrators cited as the impetus for litigation, the behaviors of school administrators that school systems cited as the impetus for adverse employment actions, and the employment protections that school administrators claimed as the defense against adverse employment actions. Moreover, the research study led to the development of guiding principles for district-level school personnel as well as school administrators to follow when encountering adverse employment actions.