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[sweetpea383]

I thought the tension would fade once we got 2 jobs.  But some of my colleagues are still upset about the circumstances around my spouse's hire.  What to do now?  This cd jeopardize spouse's T&P.  I got both with no trouble but had more pubs.  Spouse has weaker case.

[larryc]

What.

[bcohlan1]

At least one thong.

<interthreaduality>

[neutralname]

Lawyer up.  Counseling.  STFU.  AA.  Talk to your Dean.  Try to see the other perspective. 

That should cover it. 

[tuxedo_cat]

OP, you'll have better luck here asking for advice if you speak in complete sentences with no text-speak and without assuming that we can clairvoyantly guess what you're talking about once we've deciphered the basic content of your question.

So, to clarify:

You already have tenure and your spouse does not.
Spouse was hired to keep / secure your position in the dept.
Spouse's tenure file is not a slam-dunk for publications.
Your colleagues still resent the fact that s/he was hired on your coattails.

Questions:
Are you both in the same department?
Is your spouse being properly mentored by senior faculty members?
Are tenure expectations clearly spelled out for your college?

I don't know that there is much to bring in a lawyer for at this point.  I would say that you all got very lucky in getting a joint hire at the same school, but of course this is always the risk with such a situation, even if you are both superstars with impressive publication records. 

[daniel_von_flanagan]

If your institution's spousal hire policy was sound, it would have left the ultimate decision of whether to hire both bodies to the department.  Members of a department have a right to be concerned if a colleague is imposed on them against their will, but a responsibility to suck it up and nix the resentment if the department had a voice and approved the hire.  Once hired, the spouse needs to meet the same departmental standards for publication, teaching excellence, and fit that any other candidate would face. - DvF

[aprilmay]

From your post, I cannot tell if the case is weak or just weaker than yours. In either case, it sounds like the spouse is not a star. A spousal hire with a weak tenure case is going to cause resentment. People will be thinking that they could have hired someone else with those funds. The spousal hire situation cannot be changed, but the tenure case can. The best course of action is to present a stellar tenure case. If your spouse is a star, much of the resentment will go away. You cannot expect people to be thrilled with a spousal hire that turned out to be a less than great faculty member. How weak is the case? A lawyer is not going to be able to do much for someone with a weak or even mediocre tenure case, unless you have documentation of concrete wrongdoing by the university. Do you think that your spouse would get T&P based on his/her record if they were not a spousal hire? Is there time to improve his/her case?