University of Pittsburgh Wins Appeal in Professor’s Pay Cut Suit

The University of Pittsburgh won its appeal in a suit by a professor who alleged the university violated his due process rights when it lowered his salary by 20 percent.

Longtime, tenured professor Jerome McKinney didn’t have a constitutionally protected property interest in his entire base salary, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit said Feb. 14.

The appeals court reversed a district court ruling.

McKinney, who taught at the University of Pittsburgh’s Graduate School of Public and International Affairs, was ranked last among graduate school faculty in 2012, and was warned his salary might be cut if ...