Jennifer Henricks, Counsel at Partridge Snow & Hahn LLP, was recently featured in The Boston Globe discussing a landmark tenure dispute involving Tufts University School of Medicine faculty members.
The article examines a Middlesex Superior Court ruling in favor of eight tenured professors who challenged Tufts over salary reductions and changes to faculty status tied to external research grant funding requirements. The case highlights growing national concerns surrounding tenure protections, academic freedom, and financial pressures facing higher education institutions.
Representing the professors, Jennifer said at trial that Tufts attempted to “change the rules” of tenure. She noted that economic security and academic freedom are two concrete benefits of tenure cemented in the 1940s – “meaningful, contractual terms that impose obligations” on schools and “grant rights” to professors.
Jennifer also stated that “It’s pretty clear that there was a motivation to target faculty that the school had identified as underperforming.”
The full article is available through The Boston Globe (subscription required).
