Tennessee Courtroom of Appeals Affirms Trial Courtroom Order Invalidating Faculty Board Censorship Clause in Ex-Director Shawn Joseph’s Severance Settlement

In a pair of separate opinions issued June 20, 2022, the Tennessee Courtroom of Appeals affirmed a ruling by Davidson County Chancery Courtroom Choose Ellen Hobbs Lyle in favor of Plaintiffs Amy Frogge, Fran Bush, and Jill Speering, all represented by Horwitz Regulation, PLLC.  The ruling arose out of a lawsuit filed towards Metro and ex-MNPS Director Shawn Joseph relating to the legality of the Faculty Board Censorship Clause contained in Joseph’s severance settlement.  In a September 2020 Memorandum Order, Chancellor Lyle struck down the censorship clause as unconstitutional on a number of grounds and completely enjoined its enforcement.

Amongst different issues, the Faculty Board Censorship Clause prohibited elected Faculty Board members even from honestly criticizing “Dr. Joseph and his efficiency as Director of Colleges.”  Upon assessment of it, Chancellor Lyle dominated that the clause violated the Plaintiffs’ First Modification rights, unlawfully prohibited them from talking actually with their constituents, and violated established Tennessee public coverage.  In consequence, Chancellor Lyle invalidated the clause as unenforceable and ordered Metro and Joseph to pay the Plaintiffs’ “cheap prices and legal professional’s charges,” which had been pledged to charity.  Thereafter, each Metro and Joseph appealed.

Upon assessment of Chancellor Lyle’s ruling, the Courtroom of Appeals unanimously affirmed in a pair of separate opinions.  By the point the case reached enchantment, the Defendants had all however conceded that what they’d performed was unlawful and tried to make use of that concession as a foundation for avoiding a judgment.  Of their majority opinion, Judges Carma Dennis McGee and Andy Bennett famous that: “The truth that the defendants admit of their briefs that their contract was illegal shouldn’t stop Plaintiffs from having standing to problem the contract in courtroom.”  In a separate concurring opinion, Choose McBrayer undertook a wider assessment of a number of points that almost all decided Metro and Joseph had waived via poor briefing, and he held that: