Board of Curators of the University of Missouri v. Horowitz

The University of Missouri-Kansas City Medical School dismissed Horowitz (plaintiff) in her final year for failing to meet academic standards, after she had already been advanced on probation due to poor clinical evaluations. A faculty evaluation council, and later seven outside physicians and additional faculty, repeatedly documented dissatisfaction with her clinical skills and conduct before recommending dismissal, and Horowitz's written appeal to the Provost was reviewed and denied based on the existing record. Horowitz sued under 42 U.S.C. § 1983, claiming she was dismissed without the procedural due process the Fourteenth Amendment requires. The district court dismissed her claim, a divided court of appeals reversed, and the university sought certiorari.