O’Reilly and Lyons Win Jury Trial for New Jersey University

 

Roseland, NJ, March 10, 2009 —  On January 30, 2009, Tricia B. O’Reilly, a Partner at Connell Foley, and M. Trevor Lyons, a Senior Associate successfully defended a breach-of-contract claim brought against a major public university in New Jersey. The plaintiff, a former professor at the University, alleged that an offer letter and supplement given to him at the start of his career guaranteed him a seven (7) year term of employment.  The University responded that the offer letter changed only the time frame in which the professor could build a record for tenure review, but did not guarantee him employment for a seven (7) year term.  The University maintained that this professor was still subject to annual reappointment, the same as all of other tenure track faculty, and that the professor had simply failed to perform at a level warranting continued  investment  and employment by the University. After a more than two-week trial, a jury agreed with the University and returned a verdict in its favor.

 

Ms. O’Reilly and Mr. Lyons, who have represented this University for a number of years, stated that they were very pleased that a jury ultimately vindicated the University’s actions.

 

Ms. O’ Reilly devotes her practice primarily to business litigation, employment litigation and employer counseling. Ms. O’Reilly has represented clients in a number of industries, including pharmaceuticals, grocery and specialty foods, construction, paper manufacturing, insurance, healthcare, chemical, energy, computer software, real estate development, and higher education. Ms. O’Reilly has litigated cases in federal and state court involving commercial contract disputes, shareholder oppression claims, intellectual property rights, professional liability claims, trade secrets, restrictive covenants, franchise disputes, wrongful discharge claims, breach of employment contracts, and alleged discrimination and retaliation under Title VII, ADA, NJLAD, and other federal and state anti-discrimination and whistle-blower statutes. She regularly counsels clients in making employment-related decisions so as to avoid or to reduce the risks of litigation. 

 

Mr. Lyons has focused his practice in the area of labor and employment law since his graduation from law school. He provides diligent representation on behalf of management for a broad array of labor and employment related claims, including allegations of discrimination, employment contract disputes, restrictive covenants, wrongful terminations and whistleblower complaints.

 

For more information regarding the case, please contact Tricia B. O’Reilly at toreilly@connellfoley.com or M. Trevor Lyons at mlyons@connellfoley.com.