924
OCTOBER TERM, 1996
Syllabus
certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the third circuit
No. 96-651. Argued March 24, 1997—Decided June 9, 1997
On August 26, 1992, while employed as a policeman at East Stroudsburg
University (ESU), a Pennsylvania state institution, respondent was arrested by state police and charged with a drug felony. Petitioners, ESU officials, suspended him without pay, effective immediately, pending their own investigation. Although the criminal charges were dismissed on September 1, his suspension remained in effect. On September 18, he was provided the opportunity to tell his side of the story to ESU officials. Subsequently, he was demoted to groundskeeper. He then filed suit under 42 U. S. C. § 1983, claiming, inter alia, that petitioners' failure to provide him with notice and a hearing before suspending him without pay violated due process. The District Court granted petitioners summary judgment, but the Third Circuit reversed.
Held: In the circumstances here, the State did not violate due process by failing to provide notice and a hearing before suspending a tenured public employee without pay. Pp. 928-936. (a) In Cleveland Bd. of Ed. v. Loudermill, 470 U. S. 532, this Court held that before being fired a public employee dismissable only for cause was entitled to a limited pretermination hearing, to be followed by a more comprehensive posttermination hearing. The Third Circuit erred in relying on dictum in Loudermill to conclude that a suspension without pay must also be preceded by notice and a hearing. Due process is flexible and calls for such procedural protections as the particular situation demands. Morrissey v. Brewer, 408 U. S. 471, 481; FDIC v. Mallen, 486 U. S. 230, 240. Pp. 929-931. (b) Three factors are relevant in determining what process is constitutionally due: (1) the private interest that will be affected by the official action; (2) the risk of an erroneous deprivation of such interest through the procedures used, and the probable value, if any, of additional or substitute procedural safeguards; and (3) the Government's interest. Mathews v. Eldridge, 424 U. S. 319, 335. Respondent asserts an interest in an uninterrupted paycheck; but account must be taken of the length and finality of the temporary deprivation of his pay. Logan v. Zimmerman Brush Co., 455 U. S. 422, 434. So long as a suspended employee receives a sufficiently prompt postsuspension hearing, the lost
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