Can an employee respond to an allegation of sexual assault before being suspended without pay?

Thus the majority's conclusion can only be based on its first ground: that the employee suffers a smaller deprivation when suspended rather than terminated. Certainly the severity of the deprivation is one element to be considered in determining how much process is due. But Goss v. Lopez (1975) 419 U.S. 565, 95 S.Ct. 729, 42 L.Ed.2d 725, and subsequent cases refute the majority's contention that an employee has no right to respond to the charges against him before he is suspended without pay for as much as a week.