Question: A physician at the University of California was removed from the chairmanship of the university hospital's radiology department in the wake of accusations of financial improprieties. A quarter million dollars, obtained chiefly in the form of rebates from medical equipment vendors allegedly had been inappropriately placed in the department's operating accounts. No allegations were ever made that the plaintiff had made any personal use of the funds, only that he had inappropriately deposited them in the department's accounts rather than in the medical center's general fund. The university, after learning of this, took action to reallocate the funds and also dismissed the plaintiff as chair. But he retained his tenured teaching position and his status as a staff physician.
If the plaintiff believes that he was guilty of no wrongdoing on these facts, does he have a cause of action for defamation against the university? Does he have a cause of action for retaliatory demotion? If the loss of the chairmanship occurred without a hearing, does he have a constitutional tort claim under the due process clause of the Fourteenth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution? If the plaintiff is in the right, what remedy or remedies should the court award him? Money damages? Reinstatement? Both? See Katzberg v. Regents of University of California [29 Cal.4th 300, 58 P.3d 339 (Cal. Supreme Ct. 2002)].