Professor Harriet Spiegel v. The Trustees of Tufts College

SELYA, Circuit Judge.

A disappointed faculty member, Harriet Spiegel, sued the trustees of Tufts College in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts following rejection of her tenure application. The district court dismissed most — but not all — of her statements of claim without requiring defendants to answer, and thereafter authorized a partial judgment in Tufts’ favor under Fed.R.Civ.P. 54(b). 1 Because we conclude that the judgment was prematurely entered, we dismiss the appeal.

I.BACKGROUND

This case’s voyage to our shores can be charted from three distinct coigns…