Jean Lifter v. Cleveland State Univ.

BOGGS, Circuit Judge.

This is a First Amendment retaliation case. Married plaintiffs Sheldon Gelman and Jean Lifter were employees of the Cleveland-Marshall College of Law. When, after the 2008 financial crisis, the law school faced mounting pressure to trim class sizes and reduce enrollment, Gelman, a tenured professor, spearheaded a successful union-organizing campaign among the law faculty. The following spring, Gel-man and several other pro-union faculty received a low and allegedly symbolic $666 merit raise. Just over a year later, Lifter’s employment was terminated. Both filed claims…