ADVERSE EMPLOYMENT ACTIONS AND PUBLIC SCHOOL ...

Affirm: (1) to assert as true or factual; (2) to assert as valid or confirmed (Merriam
Webster’s Dictionary of Law, 1996, p. 17).
Appeal: a proceeding in which a case is brought before a higher court for review of a
lower court’s judgment for the purpose of convincing the higher court that the lower court’s
judgment was incorrect (Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law, 1996, p. 28).
Appellant: a person or party who appeals a court’s judgment (Merriam Webster’s
Dictionary of Law, 1996, p. 29).
Appellee: the party to an appeal arguing that the lower court’s judgment was correct and
should stand (Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law, 1996, p. 29).
Arbitrary: (1) depending on individual discretion and not fixed by standards, rule, or law;
(2a) not restrained or limited in the exercise of power; (2b) marked by or resulting from the
unrestrained exercise of power; (3a) based on preference, bias, prejudice, or convenience rather
than on reason or fact; (3b) existing or coming about seemingly at random or by chance or as an
unreasonable act of individual will without regard for facts or applicable law--often used in the
phrase “arbitrary and capricious” (Merriam Webster’s Dictionary of Law, 1996, p. 30).
Capricious: (1) governed or characterized by impulse or whim; (1a) lacking a rational
basis; (1b) likely to change suddenly; (2) not supported by the weight of evidence or established
rules of law--often used in the phrase “arbitrary and capricious” (Merriam Webster’s Dictionary
of Law, 1996, p. 66).
Certiorari: an extraordinary writ issued by a superior court (as the Supreme Court) to call
up the records of a particular case from an inferior judicial body (as a Court of Appeals)--
Certiorari is one of the two ways to have a case from a U.S. Court of Appeals reviewed by the
U.S. Supreme Court. Certification is the other. The Supreme Court may also use certiorari to
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