Law school dean sues UC

The dean of the law school at the University of Cincinnati, who was placed on administrative leave last month, sued the university Friday.

Jennifer Bard, the first female dean of the college, filed a federal lawsuit against the university and its interim provost, Peter F. Landgren, for illegally placing Bard on leave.

“I came to UC in good faith, deeply committed to addressing the College of Law’s failure to adapt to a rapidly changing legal market,” Bard said in a statement. "Although I enjoyed the support of the students and many highly talented faculty and staff, the university now seems committed to seeing a small, entitled minority of faculty hijack reform efforts that should be dedicated solely to the welfare of its students. I have no recourse but to protect my good name and encourage an open discussion of the deeply rooted and on-going problems that existed here well before my arrival."

A UC spokesman said the university was "reviewing the suit by Dean Bard, and we welcome the opportunity to present the truth in court." Landgren and Bard were not immediately available for comment.

Bard's complaint asserts Landgren and UC illegally placed Bard on administrative leave in March immediately following her response to local media reports about financial deficits at the law school and faculty members’ responses to her efforts to reduce those deficits.

Marjorie Berman, the New York City-based lawyer representing Bard, said Landgren and UC violated Bard's constitutional rights as a state employee, the university's policies and her contract with UC.

Bard was appointed dean in July 2015 on a five-year contract. Bard says her primary mission was to focus on reducing the school’s deficit and increasing its enrollment. Under Bard's leadership, applications grew, more students passed the bar, the school’s national reputation improved, the Board of Trustees approved a new building and fundraising increased, according to Bard. She was paid a $300,000 annual salary and was awarded a $15,000 performance bonus in 2016, records show.

A number of faculty members criticized Bard to Landgren in December 2016, even requesting her removal, according to public records obtained by The Enquirer. Faculty members also discussed a vote of no confidence, records show. Langdren subsequently asked Bard to resign, but she refused, according to the suit.

Those faculty members could have been directly affected by Bard's cost saving measures and they threatened Bard with a vote of “no confidence” unless she abandoned many of her deficit-reduction activities, according to a news release from Bard.

In a law school faculty meeting days after Bard's temporary termination, Landgren said Bard had done nothing illegal, immoral or unethical and there was no “smoking gun” that prompted him to place her on administrative leave, according to the release.

"(Landgren) said she had lost the trust of the faculty," Berman said. "...that certainly isn’t basis to place her on administrative leave."

The complaint says Bard was denied due process of law under the Fourteenth Amendment when she was placed on administrative leave, suffered First Amendment retaliation for speaking to the press on matters of public concern, and that UC breached both its contract with her and a six-month plan to restore mutual trust and communication.

“There is a certain irony here that the very institution tasked with teaching future lawyers and jurists about due process and the constitution is violating those very sacrosanct principles,” Berman said in a statement.

The lawsuit demands Bard’s reinstatement as dean and removal from administrative leave. She's also seeking compensatory and punitive damages against Landgren; a declaratory judgment that the defendants had no lawful or factual basis for placing her on administrative leave; monetary damages against UC for breach of contract and legal fees.

R. Gary Winters, of McCaslin, Imbus & Mc Caslin in Cincinnati, is also representing Bard in this case. The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati. Bard's lawyers have also filed a preliminary injunction to immediately rescind the administrative leave.

UC named professor Verna Williams, who's also co-director of the Center for Race, Gender and Social Justice, as the interim leader of the law school and the special assistant to the provost for the law school in place of Bard.

The most recent bar passage rate for UC grads is 86 percent, 15 percent above Ohio’s average. The school was recognized as one of the top 20 law schools in the country for producing prosecutors/public defenders, according to National Jurist magazine. U.S. News and World Report magazine ranked UC 72nd among law schools.