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A state university employed a laboratory supervisor under a civil-service statute providing that permanent employees may be discharged only for cause. After a chemical spill, the university president immediately suspended the supervisor without pay and issued a press release stating that the supervisor had "recklessly endangered students." The university did not let the supervisor review the incident report or respond before the suspension. Three weeks later, the university held a hearing at which the supervisor could testify, call witnesses, and question the investigator. The hearing officer recommended termination, and the university fired the supervisor.
The supervisor files suit under the Fourteenth Amendment, asserting that the suspension, public accusation, and termination violated procedural due process. The university argues that student safety justified immediate action and that the later hearing cured any problem.
Analyze the supervisor's procedural due process claims. Discuss any property or liberty interests, the timing of the required process, and the relevance of the later hearing.