Erle E. Peacock, Jr. v. Board of Regents of the Universities and State Colleges of Arizona

Erie E. Peacock,-.Jr., appeals from an order of the district court granting him a preliminary injunction but for less than all the relief he sought. Our jurisdiction is predicated upon 28 U.S.C. § 1292 (a).

From 1969 until late in 1973, appellant was a tenured Professor of Surgery and Head of the Department of Surgery at the University of Arizona’s College of Medicine, a state school. He was employed under a written contract which during the events here in issue appointed him “Professor and Department Head in the Department of Surgery” “for the fiscal year 1973 — 1974 effective July 1, 1973. . ” The University, however, became dissatisfied with his administrative performance, and on October 25, 1973, summarily dismissed him as Head of the Department. An academic power struggle ensued, with further strife and bickering, during which, on February 11, 1974, the University suspended appellant as Professor of Surgery, again without a prior hearing, although in this regard offering him a post-suspension hearing on his status as professor.

On February 22, 1974, appellant instituted this suit for damages and equitable relief to redress the denial of his right, allegedly…