TACT Doubles Member Liability Coverage

Beginning November 1, 2004, TACT members are eligible for twice the current Educators' Professional Liability Insurance coverage. Personal asset protection will increase from $1 million to $2 million for only a twenty percent premium increase (from $49/year to $59).

"This is something the TACT Board realized we could accomplish in partnership with our insurance carrier to significantly enhance membership value at the nominal cost of eighty-three cents per month," said TACT President Jim Puckett. "Everyone is aware of the litigious society in which we operate, and jeopardizing one's family financial future is not a risk we need to take in order to practice our profession. In fact, I would hope that our members who do not presently participate consider buying the current coverage for the remainder of this policy year."

A quick review of the literature suggests that this inexpensive coverage may help cure insomnia.

Several years ago, within the California State University System, a professor filed suit against two of her colleagues claiming sexual harassment. Both defendants retained private counsel after the State Office of General Counsel denied representation "because this lawsuit concerns matters outside the course and scope of their university employment," causing one defendant to promise countersuits.

In another case, this one on the East Coast, a nationally respected legal scholar demonstrated a traditional tort lesson in class by "tapping" (his word) a student on the shoulder. You guessed it - she called it a "caress" which reminded her of being terrorized, raped and molested when she was 11 years old. The subsequent civil charge was styled "assault and battery."

A professor providing expert testimony based on her research at a town hall meeting in Pennsylvania must have been so convincing that she was sued for $225,000 for defamation. In this case, the private school administration and legal counsel came to her assistance.

What's the latest battleground in the area of faculty evaluation? It might be "collegiality," according to AAUP's Martin Snyder as quoted in the New York Times. A Maryland professor won $425,000 from a public university based on "personality discrimination," though it was reversed on appeal.

Issues surrounding academic freedom are fraught with interpretation and, when they inevitably reach the courtroom, dollars seem to be the magic barometer of who wins. The issues are important; ruining someone's retirement shouldn't be the answer. Think about the emotion of your profession and whether separating your passion from your financial future isn't worth sixteen cents per day.