Professors drop lawsuit against William Mitchell in tenure fight

Two William Mitchell College of Law professors are dropping their lawsuit against the school, ending an ugly public fight about its merger with another law school.

Professors John Radsan and Carl Moy filed a voluntary dismissal this week to end the suit "without prejudice and without an award of fees or costs to any party."

An order for dismissal was signed Thursday by Ramsey County District Judge William Leary.

Radsan and Moy filed the suit in April, alleging that their employer, in an effort to cut faculty numbers as it prepares to merge by fall with Hamline University School of Law, tried to change its tenure code.

The code currently allows the dismissal of tenured faculty if they refuse or fail to perform their job, or in the event of a financial crisis. Radsan and Moy alleged that the school wanted the ability to terminate tenured faculty "without adequate cause."

The suit said that the effort was a breach of contract.

Thursday, Moy said that they dropped the suit because the school has assured them that it would not amend the tenure code in such a manner.

The suit also levied serious allegations against Mitchell's president and dean, Eric Janus, and associate dean, Mary Pat Byrn. It claimed that Janus and Byrn were going to fire faculty based on their loyalty to Janus and the school.

In answer filed in April, Mitchell alleged that both professors have a track record of performance problems that made them insecure about their employment status.

The school said that the lawsuit was inaccurate and misleading, and that it has the right to amend its tenure code with the input of faculty.

Moy said Thursday that the school has not guaranteed that it won't pursue amendments to the tenure code.

Mitchell and Hamline University School of Law are merging in response to falling enrollment.