Former Employees Claim TCC Fails To Follow Due Process Policies

Arlington TX

28 March, 2022

6:07 PM

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By Jacob Sanchez, Fort Worth Report March 27, 2022 Kristen Bennett, the former executive vice president of advancement at Tarrant County College, keeps coming back to some advice she learned from former coworkers: "You cannot trust human resources at TCC," she said. In August, Chancellor Eugene Giovannini placed her on an improvement plan and opted to not renew her contract. They met in one-on-one meetings for months without HR in the room, she said. All she wanted to do was survive the process. She thought to herself, "I can't go to HR because if I go to them, I don't think they're really going to help me." So she didn't. She eventually was stripped of her job, barred from stepping foot on TCC property and says she didn't get the opportunity to go through the proper termination process, according to a February lawsuit. Bennett is part of a group of people terminated from TCC who claim they did not get their constitutional right to due process and filed lawsuits. The cases raise questions about whether TCC ensures proper due process for all employees, who describe their situations as symptoms of a larger issue. Administrators, though, say they are following the process outlined in law and policy and are pushing back against the claims of systemic abuse. To read the full article, click here. Fort Worth Report is a nonpartisan, nonprofit news organization that produces factual, in-depth journalism about city and county government, schools, healthcare, business, and arts and culture in Tarrant County. Always free to read; subscribe to newsletters, read coverage or support our newsroom at fortworthreport.org.