THE UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI
 
For Immediate Release                                                                             Media Contact:
10/3/08                                                                                                                 Jana Bryant
                                                                                                                          601.266.4497           
 
 
HATTIESBURG, Miss. A 2007 lawsuit filed by a University of Southern Mississippi professor who claimed his federal constitutional rights were violated by fellow faculty members and university administrators has been dismissed.
 
This week, U.S. District Judge Keith Starrett made the ruling on the lawsuit brought against the university by Dr. Chauncey Marc DePree, a professor in the School of Accountancy and Information Systems in the College of Business. 
 
In his complaint filed on Sept. 7, 2007, DePree named 14 individuals, alleging violations of his federal constitutional rights, defamation, interference with business relations, assault, intentional infliction of emotional distress and breach of contract. Starrett dismissed DePrees claims against the 14 defendants, all professors or administrators at the university.
 
We are pleased the federal court did not find any administrator or professor acted inappropriately with regard to Dr. DePree, said Lee Gore, university counsel.
 
DePree filed the complaint after he was assigned to full-time research duties by Southern Miss President Martha Saunders on Aug. 22, 2007. Saunders made her decision after receiving notification by then Interim College of Business Dean Alvin Williams that several fellow professors had written letters of complaint about DePree to Williams.
 
In his letter to Saunders, Williams noted that DePree had engaged in behaviors that have severely constrained the capacity of [the School of Accountancy and Information Systems]and Dr. DePree has helped create an environment in which faculty members and students do not feel safe to go about their usual business in Joseph Green Hall.
 
DePree filed a motion for a temporary restraining order requesting the court to reverse Dr. Saunders decision. The motion was denied on Sept. 27, 2007, in U.S. District Court, Southern District, Hattiesburg Division, stating that Dr. DePree had neither been suspended not terminated and therefore suffered no harm or any adverse employment action.
 
In the Sept. 30, 2008, judgment, Judge Starrett stated that the plaintiff has failed to demonstrate that he has suffered any adverse employment action at the hands of the defendants. This is fatal to his federal constitutional claims.
 
View this article online at: http://www.usm.edu/pr/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2002&Itemid=2 .