Kakaes v. George Washington University Case Brief Summary | Law Case Explained

Kakaes v. George Washington University | 790 A.2d 581 (2002)

In contract law, a nonbreaching party generally may only recover legal relief, or damages, for a breach. However, a nonbreaching party may recover equitable relief, such as restitution or specific performance, at the discretion of a trial court if legal relief is inadequate. In Kakaes versus George Washington University, the D C Court of Appeals considered whether a court was required to grant specific performance if the contract provided for this type of relief.

Doctor Apostolos Kakaes was an assistant professor in the electrical engineering and computer science department at George Washington University in D C, which we’ll call G W.

Under G W’s faculty code, which constituted a contract between Kakaes and G W, if an assistant professor wasn’t going to be granted tenure at the end of the professor’s term, G W was to notify the professor in writing. The professor was to be notified no later than June thirtieth of the year before the professor’s term expired. Further, the contract provided that if timely notice wasn’t given, the faculty member, quote, “shall acquire tenure at the end of the term,” unquote.

On June twenty eighth, nineteen ninety three, G W’s vice president informed Kakaes in writing that he wouldn’t be granted tenure at the end of his term. But the vice president also informed Kakaes that G W’s board of trustees was still deciding on whether to award him tenure and that he would be notified of the outcome as soon as possible.

Subsequently, when the vice president failed to notify Kakaes of the trustees’ decision, Kakaes sued G W in superior court for breach of contract. In the action, he claimed that G W hadn’t provided him with timely notice to deny him tenure. In response, G W moved for summary judgment, which the court granted. Kakaes appealed, and the D C Court of Appeals reversed and remanded, concluding that a jury could reasonably find that G W failed to comply with the code.

On remand, a different judge found that G W had breached its contract with Kakaes and awarded him more than seventy five thousand dollars in damages. However, the judge declined to grant Kakaes tenure. Kakaes appealed again to the D C Court of Appeals.

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