## Facts

- Edmund H. Linn was a tenured faculty member at Andover-Newton Theological School, age 62, with 31 years of service when he was terminated.
- The school faced financial pressure; on December 3, 1980, the executive committee directed the president to reduce the budget by at least $50,000 and appointed a faculty advisory committee to recommend implementation.
- On December 11, 1980, the advisory committee recommended Linn’s discharge; the executive committee accepted the recommendation on December 23, 1980.
- On December 29, 1980, Linn received a letter giving one year’s notice of discharge.
- The discharge decision was later approved by the full faculty (March 6, 1981) and the full board of trustees (May 6, 1981).
- Linn sued alleging age discrimination under the ADEA and breach of contract based on academic tenure protections; the court addressed only his renewed motion for partial summary judgment on the tenure-based contract claim.
- The school conceded that the Faculty Promotion and Tenure Policy and the 1972 AAUP Recommended Institutional Regulations on Academic Freedom and Tenure were part of Linn’s employment contract.

## Issues

1. Whether the school’s Faculty Promotion and Tenure Policy and incorporated 1972 AAUP tenure regulations were contractually binding procedural requirements for terminating a tenured faculty member.
2. Whether, on the undisputed record, the school failed to follow those contractual procedures such that Linn was entitled to partial summary judgment on liability for breach of contract.

## Decision

- The court granted Linn’s renewed motion for partial summary judgment on the breach-of-contract (tenure) count.
- The court held the relevant tenure-policy documents were part of the contract and established dismissal procedures applicable to Linn’s termination.
- The court found no genuine dispute of material fact as to how Linn’s termination was decided and implemented.
- Based on the undisputed chronology and the contractual requirements, the court concluded the school did not follow the required tenure-dismissal procedures and therefore breached the contract.
- The ruling resolved liability on the contract claim only; damages and the ADEA claim were not decided in this decision.

## Legal Principles

- Faculty promotion-and-tenure policies and incorporated AAUP tenure regulations may constitute enforceable contractual terms between an institution and a tenured faculty member.
- Where a contract specifies procedures for terminating a tenured professor (including procedures tied to financial exigency or program reduction), the institution must comply with those procedures to effect a lawful contractual dismissal.
- Summary judgment under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 56 is appropriate when the material facts concerning the institution’s process are undisputed and the record shows noncompliance with contractually required procedures as a matter of law.

## Conclusion

The court held that the seminary’s admitted incorporation of its tenure policy and the 1972 AAUP regulations created enforceable dismissal procedures, and that the undisputed termination process departed from those requirements; it therefore entered partial summary judgment for Linn on breach-of-contract liability.


Linn v. Andover-Newton Theological Sch., 638 F. Supp. 1114 (D. Mass. 1986)