Oregon Teachers Win Big at Oregon Supreme Court

In a sweeping decision, the Oregon Supreme Court drastically limited the authority of the Oregon Teachers Standards Practices Commission (TSPC) to punish off-duty misconduct, which is unrelated to teaching. This case arose out of an off-duty attempted suicide attempt by a respected schoolteacher. The suicide attempt was away from school during a holiday break. The teacher was the only injured party. In response the District ultimately terminated her. TSPC attempted to suspend her license based upon the suicide attempt. The ALJ who heard the case held that she had not committed gross neglect of duty and gross unfitness. However, the Commission reversed its own judge and found that this off-duty misconduct merited suspension.

The basis for its holding that the teacher neglected her "duty" was that TSPC defined "duty" to require acting lawfully "at all times." The Oregon Supreme Court held that professional duties must relate to the profession, and could not be so broad to include being a good citizen or broad moral duties.

The second basis for discipline was alleged "gross unfitness." TSPC did not argue that the teacher was unfit at the time of the hearing. Instead, it held that the off-duty misconduct rendered her unfit at the time the misconduct occurred. The Court reversed and held that a teacher could only be found "unfit" when the teacher is rendered unfit by severe conduct which irreparably impairs their ability to teach permanently or semi-permanently. The court used the example of shooting a principal.

As a result of this case, TSPC will only be able to discipline teachers for off-duty misconduct when there is a clear effect on their ability to teach. This reverses a longstanding trend by this Agency to discipline every instance of off-duty misconduct, regardless of any connection to teaching. This is a substantial victory for teachers throughout the State. BHMK Partner Thomas Doyle represented the teacher on behalf of the Oregon Education Association.