ORANGE : Jury Awards $562,000 in Tenure Lawsuit

A former professor who claimed she was wrongfully denied tenure at Chapman University was awarded more than $560,000 Tuesday by an Orange County Superior Court jury.

The jury found that the university’s former president, Buck Smith, and former dean, Cameron Sinclair, were wrong when they denied a faculty recommendation that Prof. Maragret Murphy should receive tenure, according to her attorney, Dale L. Gronemeier.

“This is great,” said Murphy, 49, of Lake Forest after the verdict. “I don’t know if vindicated is the word, but I feel grateful that the jury ruled in my favor.”

Gronemeier said that the jury also found in favor of Murphy and against the university on other allegations that included breach of contract, wrongful denial of the existence of a contract, fraud and violation of the California free speech guarantee.

“This was a great victory for the faculty of Chapman,” he said, noting that the faculty had wanted Murphy to receive the tenure appointment.

Michael A. Hood, the attorney for the university and the two administrators, contended during the 13-day trial that the defendants legitimately denied Murphy’s promotion on economic grounds.

On Tuesday, Hood declined comment on the case because a trial on potential punitive damages is scheduled to be heard later this month.

The jury deliberated about seven hours before reaching a verdict that awarded Murphy $362,000 for economic loss and $200,000 for emotional distress damages.

Murphy, who has a doctorate in exercise physiology and taught sports medicine at Chapman, said the verdict was culmination of a drawn-out fight with the university.

She said she was hired at Chapman in 1978 and was recommended for tenure in 1982 but was told by the administrators that economic reasons restricted them from giving it to her.

In the summer of 1986, after repeated attempts by a faculty committee to get her tenure, Murphy said she agreed to a contract with the university that would have settled the issue.

But for reasons that Murphy said were never clear to her, an administrator reneged on the contract and fired her. Murphy filed her lawsuit in June, 1987.

During the trial, several professors testified on her behalf. “We had about 150 years of teaching experience in Chapman faculty who came to testify,” Murphy said.

After leaving Chapman, Murphy went to work for Parkview Hospital in Riverside, where she is director of occupational medicine.

“I felt a lot of rage and felt there was a great injustice being done,” she said. “They tried to sweep this under the rug. I’m happy that it’s finally being exposed.”