Perry v. Sindermann

The plaintiff, Perry, served several years as a teacher in the Texas College and University System. During his time as a professor of Government and Social Science at Odessa Junior College he was elected president of the Texas Junior College Teachers Association. In that capacity, Perry testified before the Texas Legislature numerous times, and became embroiled in public disagreements with the policies of the college’s Board of Regents. He became associated with a group advocating a change opposed by the Regents and, on one occasion, a newspaper advertisement appeared over his name that was highly critical of the Regents. When Perry’s one-year employment contract came up for renewal the Board of Regents voted not to offer him a new contract. The Board of Regents then issued a press release setting forth allegations of Perry’s insubordination, but never provided him an official statement of the reasons for nonrenewal. The Odessa college has no tenure system, but has a policy indicating it wishes faculty to feel as if they had permanent tenure as long as teaching services are satisfactory and as long as they display a cooperative attitude toward co-workers and superiors, and they remain happy in their work.