Cleveland Board of Education v. Loudermill
United States Supreme Court
470 U.S. 532 (1985)
James Loudermill (plaintiff) was a classified civil-service security guard for the Cleveland Board of Education (defendant), meaning Ohio law let him be fired only for cause with a right to post-termination administrative review. He was fired for lying on his job application about a past felony conviction, but was never given any chance to respond to the dishonesty charge before his termination — only afterward, through the administrative appeal process (where a referee actually recommended reinstating him, though the commission overruled that recommendation). Loudermill sued, arguing Ohio's process violated Due Process by omitting any pre-termination opportunity to respond.
Whether the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment requires a limited pre-termination hearing before the discharge of an employee who has a constitutionally protected property interest in his employment, followed by a more elaborate post-termination hearing to challenge the discharge.