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MU loses lawsuit to online instructors

Jesse Hall on the University of Missouri Campus
cindyt7070
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Flickr
Jesse Hall on the University of Missouri Campus

A Missouri judge has ruled in favor of teachers who filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit when they were laid off from the state's online instruction program.

The Columbia Daily Tribune reports that Boone County Circuit Judge Jodie Asel ruled Wednesday that the teachers had an enforceable contract for the entire 2009 through 2010 school year.

The 21 plaintiffs began working in the Missouri Virtual Instruction Program in August 2009 but were let go four months later when the state stopped funding the program. It's now a tuition-based program. The teachers' lawyer, David Brown, said he expects a settlement on monetary damages without a trial on that issue.

Defendants included the University of Missouri, whose spokesperson declined to comment yesterday, and a nonprofit based at the university that hired the teachers.

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