Page:Gruber v. Bruce.pdf/24

 a legitimate claim of entitlement to the interest, and not just a desire, want, or need.

Plaintiffs have not shown a legitimate claim of entitlement to teaching abroad. To the contrary, Dr. Gruber’s contract stated that there was “no obligation for or guarantee of summer session employment.” (Doc. No. 88-2 at 4). Mr. Smith never participated in study abroad activities (Doc. No. 81-14, Smith Dep. at 168) and so he never had even a unilateral expectation of going overseas as a part of his teaching duties.

Dr. Gruber has also not established that she was denied a grant. What she was denied was a “Non-Instructional Assignment” for research that allowed her to take time away from her teaching duties. This apparently does not prevent her from applying for grants or other funding that would support her research and academic pursuits. (Doc. Nos. 81-13, Gruber Dep. 176–178; 62-22 at 3).

Nor has it been shown that the Dean auditing class is somehow the loss of a property interest. To the contrary, Mr. Johnson testified that “of course” the Dean has the privilege to “drop[] by my class.” (Doc. No. 81-14, Johnson Dep. at 172).

“Only after a plaintiff has met the burden of demonstrating that he possessed a protected property or liberty interest and was deprived of that interest will the court consider whether the process provided the plaintiff in conjunction with the deprivation, or lack thereof, violated his rights to due process.”, 281 F.3d 520, 529 (6th Cir. 2002). Because Plaintiffs have not carried that burden, the Court could end here. However, as a matter of completeness, the Court notes that Plaintiffs have not shown that they were deprived of adequate pre-deprivation procedures.

Plaintiffs complain that they were investigated under an inapplicable policy because, on February 24, 2021, they were informed that an investigation had commenced under Policy 141, Prohibited Discrimination and Harassment. However, the same letter to both Plaintiffs states that