UNION -- Kean University should have given a professor more notice before its board voted to not renew her contract at a public meeting, a state appellate court ruled this week in a case that could change how the school does business. 

The public university violated the state's open public meeting law when it failed to send associate professor of nursing Valerie Hascup a warning letter before its trustees voted not to renew her contract at a 2014 meeting, the three-judge panel ruled. 

The letter, called a Rice notice, should have been sent at least two weeks before the meeting to inform Hascup that she could force the board to discuss her employment in public. Instead, the board voted without discussion not to reappoint her as part of a long list of personnel decisions involving unnamed employees at the meeting. 

The "silent unexplained vote" was a violation of the state's Open Public Meetings Act, or OPMA, the judges wrote.

Out-of-state colleges with most N.J. students 

"The public policy of transparency and accountability in the OPMA demand that we hold the board accountable for failure to adhere to both the text and the values underlying the OPMA," the appellate decision said.  

The appellate court judges disagreed with a trial court judge who previously ruled that Kean was not required to send the notice to the professor or any of the other employees whose employment status was voted on at the meeting. 

The appellate court's ruling cancels all the personnel decisions made at the 2014 meeting. It is unclear why Hascup was let go or how the court decision will affect her or the other employees involved, said Robert Fagella, her attorney.

"It was a really major admonition to the board of trustees that the way they've been conducting themselves is abominable," Fagella said.

Kean officials said they disagreed with the ruling.

"Kean University maintains that it acted fully consistent with the Open Public Meetings Act. The university is in the process of reviewing the decisions and is considering all legal options, including the possibility of an appeal," said Margaret McCorry, a Kean spokeswoman.

Kean Federation of Teachers, the school's faculty union, and union president James Castiglione joined Hascup in filing the lawsuit against the university. 

Though the appellate court sided with Hascup and her union on the employment issue, the judges ruled in the university's favor in another part of the case. The panel disagreed with the union's argument that Kean officials broke the law when they waited 58 days to release the minutes of the meeting.

While the university should have handed over the minutes within 45 days under the law, the judges said they would not impose a strict deadline in case extreme weather or other unforeseen circumstances delay the release of minutes. 

Kelly Heyboer may be reached at kheyboer@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @KellyHeyboer. Find her at KellyHeyboerReporter on Facebook.

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