Barrall v. Board of Trustees of John A. Logan Community College

Illinois Supreme Court
Civil Court
Employment
Citation
Case Number: 
2020 IL 125535
Decision Date: 
Thursday, December 17, 2020
District: 
5th Dist.
Division/County: 
Jackson Co.
Holding: 
Appellate court affirmed; circuit court reversed; remanded.
Justice: 
THEIS

Section 3B-5 of the Public Community College Act does not permit the board of trustees for a community college to lay off tenured faculty members and then, within the statutory recall period, hire adjunct instructors to teach courses that the laid-off faculty members are competent to teach. Adjunct instructors are "other employees with less seniority" within the meaning of this clause in section 3B-5 of the Act. The rights conferred by the last sentence of section 3B-5 apply to individual courses, rather than to positions as faculty members. Board of Trustees violated this provision by emplying adjunct instructors to teach courses that tenured faculty members were competent to teach. (GARMAN, NEVILLE, M. BURKE, and CARTER, concurring; A. BURKE, dissenting.)