Federal Judge Rules University of Pittsburgh Violated Due Process in Professor's Harassment Case

In Bhattacharya v. University of Pittsburgh, the Western District of Pennsylvania held that the university’s disciplinary actions against tenured professor Chitrabhanu Bhattacharya breached due-process requirements. The judge noted that a year-long unpaid suspension and removal from the H.J. Zoffer endowed chair, worth $50,000 annually, are property interests that demand proper notice and an opportunity to be heard.

The school’s July 10 letter listed only vague verbal misconduct allegations and failed to disclose nine specific behaviors later cited in an investigative report by attorney Laurel Gift. Bhattacharya first learned of many charges during a July 27 interview, violating the pre-deprivation notice rule. The court also criticized the university’s appeal mechanism, describing it as “secret” and “superficial,” because the anonymous board denied review without examining the investigation file and limited appeals to three narrow grounds. Consequently, the court determined that both the pre- and post-deprivation procedures were constitutionally inadequate.