Adjunct offered and accepted a Full-time 1-year contract, then told to "disregard" by HR staff
You're receiving the runaround because someone at your university breached a signed contract. Since the payroll system updated, that means that the contract was processed, so it can't simply be taken back or invalidated because HR sends a &quot;Disregard&quot; notice.
It sounds to me like the Dean didn't want you to make additional money, so somehow convinced HR to send you the &quot;Disregard&quot; notice and draw out the process.
Or if not the Dean, someone in the hierarchy decided you were making too much and decided to cancel the deal, thinking that you do not have the time, money, and energy to pursue legal remedies.
The &quot;Disregard&quot; notice is meaningless as a matter of policy &amp; law unless it's specifically authorized by other university documents, so what happened to you is probably a violation of law, although only the Union &amp; an attorney (or the Union's legal counsel, if one exists) can determine that.
Universities treat people in your situation like this all the time because they--like so many employers--wager that they'll get away with it. They don't treat tenured faculty members this way (or, at least, not tenured faculty members who put up a fight).
So, the harsh truth is that you may have little recourse beyond what you've already pursued.
Good on you, however, for fighting that fight.
As someone else mentioned, you may not want to work there anymore unless the university makes this situation right.
Otherwise, you'll simply be treated as an exploitable, disposable employee whom they'll shortchange any time it suits them.