Placing an individual on unpaid administrative leave did not violate employee's Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process

Placing an individual on unpaid administrative leave did not violate employee's Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process
Paul Barrows v John Wiley and Luoluo, US Circuit Court of Appeals, 7th No. 05 C 658, 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 3792

The U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that placing a public university employee on unpaid administrative leave and requiring him to use leave credits in order to remain on the payroll did not violate his Fourteenth Amendment rights to due process.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison had employed Paul Barrows in various academic capacities for more than 20 years, most recently as Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs. Barrows annual salary as Vice Chancellor was $191,749.00.

This case arose when Barrows was asked to submit a letter of resignation, which he claimed he did reluctantly. In a letter dated November 1, 2004, Barrows stated that he was stepping down from his position as Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs, explaining that “[w]ith recent changes in my family situation, and the stress those bring, I am proposing to take some personal leave time.”

Barrows later asserted that he did not resign from his position, but rather that one of the defendants, Wiley, had fired him.

While on “unpaid administrative leave,” Barrows continued to be paid at the annual rate of pay he received as Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs -- $191,749.00 – by charging his various leave accruals. On June 23, 2005, Barrows was placed in his backup position in the Provost’s Office with an annual salary of $72,881.00. That same day, Barrows was placed on paid administrative leave.

One of the complaints in Barrows’ petition alleged that forcing him to use his leave credits in order to remain on the payroll prior to his reinstatement in his “backup position” without notice or the opportunity to be heard violated his Fourteenth Amendment right to due process.

The Circuit Court affirmed the district court’s ruling that held that Barrows’ Fourteenth Amendment rights had not been violated. It said that:

1. There is no evidence in the record that Barrows requested to be placed in his backup position or challenged the University’s failure to immediately place him in his backup position.

2. Although Barrows asserted in his affidavit that he sought to return to work, this generalized statement is insufficient to establish that he sought his backup position.

3. Barrows failed to assert economic harm flowing from the University’s decision not to immediately place him in his backup position. As noted, while he was on leave Barrows continued to receive compensation at the Vice Chancellor rate of pay of $191,749.00 annually, as opposed to the rate of pay for his backup appointment, $72,881.00.

The court also rejected Barrows’ argument that he suffered an economic harm by being forced to use his leave time in order to remain on the payroll while on “unpaid administrative leave.” Barrows claimed that several University policies allowed employees to receive compensation for the leave credits that he was required to use in order to remain in pay status. In effect, Barrows contended that by forcing him to use this leave time, rather than placing him in the backup position, the University deprived him of the extra compensation he would have received after he left the backup position.

The problem with Barrows’ argument, said the court, is that he failed to present sufficient evidence of an economic harm because he failed to provide an adequate loss calculation.

Holding that Barrows failed to establish either a property interest or an economic harm flowing from the University’s decision not to immediately place Barrows in his backup position, and instead placed him on unpaid administrative leave, requiring him use his leave time in order to receive compensation, it ruled that Barrows’ due process claim failed. Accordingly, the district court properly granted the defendants’ motion for summary judgment.

The decision is posted on the Internet at:
http://nypublicpersonnellawarchives.blogspot.com/2007/02/placing-individual-on-upaid.html
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