In January 2007, the Alabama State Board of Education voted to remove the plaintiff from her position as president of Southern Union Community College. In response, the plaintiff simultaneously began administrative proceedings and a civil action seeking a review of her removal from office. She maintained that she could be dismissed only subject to the provisions of the Alabama Fair Dismissal Act (FDA), which would require a hearing.
Under Alabama law, junior colleges (2-year institutions typically called community colleges) are under the control of the Alabama State Board of Education.
An administrative law judge found in the plaintiff’s favor. Likewise, the Montgomery County Circuit Court ruled in favor of the plaintiff. However, the board appealed to the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals, which reversed the administrative law judge and the circuit court.
In reaching its decision, the court of appeals found that the Fair Dismissal Act applied only to organizations listed in the FDA as being governed by the FDA. The state board is not listed as an organization governed by the FDA. In addition, the court found that § 16-60-111.4(3) defines junior college presidents as at-will employees and that they are therefore subject to dismissal at any time. In other words, the plaintiff was an employee of the State Board of Education, not the junior college for which she served as president. Therefore, the board could terminate her at will.
See Southern Union Community College v. Salatto, decided October 7, 2011. On March 30, 2012, the Alabama Court of Civil Appeals released a revised version of its decision in this case. The revised decision reached the same conclusion as the original decision announced on October 7.
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