To embed, copy and paste the code into your website or blog: On December 17, 2020, the Illinois Supreme Court ruled that a community college violated the Illinois Public Community College Act when it replaced laid off tenured faculty members with adjunct faculty. The case addressed Section 3B-5 of the Act, which addresses “bumping rights” and prohibits community colleges from employing “other employees with less seniority” for services a laid off tenured faculty member is competent to render. Barrell v. Board of Trustees of John A. Logan Community College (insert link) involved the layoff of 27 full-time, tenured faculty members at an Illinois community college. The college subsequently hired adjunct instructors to teach the courses previously taught by the tenured faculty members, who filed a lawsuit claiming that this action violated Section 3B-5 of the Act. A trial court initially dismissed the complaint, but the Illinois Appellate Court reversed, finding that Section 3B-5 confers bumping rights onto tenured faculty based on seniority, and that hiring adjuncts to teach classes the more senior tenured faculty were capable of teaching violated the Act.