Cases & Developments - National Association of College and University Attorneys

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Latest Cases & Developments

Date:
10/6/2023
Tannous v. Cabrini Univ. (E.D. Pa. Oct. 4, 2023)
Memorandum granting-in-part and denying-in-part Defendant’s Partial Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiff, a former tenure-track professor at Cabrini University who is Palestinian-American, brought discrimination, retaliation, and contract claims against the University after it terminated him for violations of its social media policy after two community groups alerted the University to postings on his personal accounts that they considered to be anti-Semitic. In dismissing his discrimination claim, the court found that plaintiff’s assertion that the University knew of the character of his social media presence and took no action immediately after the community complaints made it implausible that his termination following two additional postings that were “particularly inflammatory” reflected discriminatory intent. The court found that dismissal of plaintiff’s contract claim would be premature absent an authenticated copy of the faculty handbook with its statements on social media use and discussion of the AAUP’s 1940 Statement on Principles on Academic Freedom and Tenures.
Topics:
Academic Performance and Misconduct | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Race and National Origin Discrimination | Students
Date:
8/25/2023
Donohue v. Capella Univ. (D. N.J. Aug. 22, 2023)
Opinion granting Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiff, a former online doctoral student at Capella University, brought contract, negligence, and negligent infliction of emotional distress claims against the University after it expelled him when (1) the SafeAssign plagiarism detection program showed that he had plagiarized 100% of an assignment, and (2) he then subsequently failed to complete a “remediation assignment” with the required number of properly used citations. In dismissing his contract claims, the court held plaintiff had not plausibly alleged that the University substantially departed from its access policies when it provided him only limited access to online resources during the period in which he was completing the remediation assignment. It further held that he had not identified a policy provision the University violated by using the SafeAssign program, which he had alleged was “known to be faulty.” The court held plaintiffs NIED claim failed because he had not alleged the University’s actions had caused the death or serious bodily injury of another individual.
Topics:
Academic Performance and Misconduct | Students
Date:
8/4/2023
Tercier v. Univ. of Miami (Fla. App. Aug. 2, 2023)
Opinion affirming dismissal. Plaintiff, a former nursing student at the University of Miami, brought contract claims against the University after he twice failed clinical placement courses and was dismissed from the program due to concerns regarding his clinical skills. In affirming dismissal, the Florida Court of Appeals noted that under the program’s Student Handbook, failure of a course is grounds for dismissal, and it found that his allegations that the failing grades were based on discriminatory animus were vague and conclusory.
Topics:
Academic Performance and Misconduct | Internships, Externships, & Clinical Work | Students
Date:
8/4/2023
Puccinelli v. S. Conn. State Univ. (D. Conn. July 28, 2023)
Ruling and Order granting-in-part and denying-in-part Plaintiff’s Motion to Amend. Plaintiff, a former student in the Special Education Teacher Certification program at Southern Connecticut State University who suffers from PTSD and anxiety, brought disparate treatment, failure to accommodate, and retaliation claims against the University and constitutional claims against multiple officials after she was removed from her student teaching assignment and dropped from the program. The court permitted plaintiff to proceed in her disparate treatment claim, finding she had sufficiently alleged that she was held to a higher standard than her peers in her student teaching assignment as a result of her anxiety. The court also permitted plaintiff to proceed in her due process claims under §1983, finding that she had sufficiently alleged that her dismissal was disciplinary, rather than academic, that it resulted when she raised concerns that a child at her placement was not receiving appropriate support, and that officials did not adequately explain the evidence against her in the process that resulted in her expulsion. Her failure to accommodate claim, however, was dismissed as conclusory, and her retaliation claim failed because the only adverse action she pleaded with specific facts was reversed before it took effect.
Topics:
Academic Performance and Misconduct | Disability Discrimination | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Retaliation | Students
Date:
7/28/2023
Ruizhu Dai v. Le, et al. (W.D. La. July 20, 2023)
Memorandum Ruling granting Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment. Plaintiff, a former graduate student and graduate assistant at Louisiana Tech University, brought constitutional and contract claims against multiple University officials after she received negative feedback on a public presentation and a low grade in a related class, was terminated from her assistantship, and resigned from the program when she was unable to form a dissertation committee. After the presentation, plaintiff emailed her professors taking issue with their critique of her research methodology. She also unsuccessfully appealed both her grade and the termination of her assistantship. In granting summary judgment to the defendants, the court held that plaintiff’s First Amendment claims failed because her email addressed neither the public nor a matter of public concern. Her due process claim failed because the continuation of her assistantship was contingent upon satisfactory performance and because she was afforded sufficient process upon its termination. Finally, her contract claim failed (1) because her contract was between her and the University, rather than the individual officials, and (2) because her assistantship letter provided that unsatisfactory performance could result in termination.
Topics:
Academic Performance and Misconduct | Constitutional Issues | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | First Amendment & Free Speech | Retaliation | Students
Date:
7/21/2023
Fraser v. The Pa. State Univ. (M.D. Pa. July 7, 2023)
Memorandum Opinion granting Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiff, a former doctoral student at Penn State University, brought constitutional and wage claims against the University, multiple officials, and Keystone Nano, an entity established to commercialize intellectual property, after he twice failed his thesis defense and was dismissed from the Program. He alleged the dismissal was retaliation for reporting that his advisor had required him to perform lab work for Keystone Nano that was unrelated to his dissertation. In dismissing his Amended Complaint with prejudice, the court held that although use of public funds for private work was a matter of public concern, plaintiff’s speech lacked temporal proximity to the alleged retaliatory actions related to the supervision of his research and thesis. It dismissed his due process claims, finding in his chronicle of a “year-long back-and-forth” with his dissertation committee neither an arbitrary deprivation of a fundamental right to continued enrollment, nor a lack of notice and opportunity to be heard. His FLSA claims failed (1) against Keystone because he failed to allege that his work was outside the scope of his doctoral program, that he had a contractual relationship with Keystone, or that anyone at Keystone exercised control over his work and (2) against the University because he failed to establish that the alleged requirement that he do lab work for his program that was unrelated to his dissertation research altered his employment status with the University.
Topics:
Academic Performance and Misconduct | Students
Date:
7/21/2023
Corbett v. Tex. Tech. Univ. Health Scis. Ctr. (N.D. Tex. July 10, 2023)
Memorandum Opinion and Order granting-in-part and denying-in-part Defendant’s Motion for Summary Judgment. Plaintiff, a former student in the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center’s Anesthesiology Residency Program, brought discrimination and retaliation claims against the Center after she failed the American Board of Anesthesiology (ABA) Basic Exam four times and was dismissed from the program. Plaintiff’s discrimination claim failed because her repeated failures on the ABA Exam prevented her from showing she was qualified for the position and because she identified no comparator who had failed as many times and was treated differently. Her retaliation claim similarly failed because she presented no evidence to show that anything other than her failures on the ABA Exam were the cause of her dismissal. The court permitted her hostile work environment claim to proceed, however, holding that plaintiff’s testimony that the Program Director made comments that he did not want women in the program on “at least 10 to 15 occasions” was sufficient to present a triable question as to whether the comments affected the conditions of her employment.
Topics:
Academic Performance and Misconduct | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Retaliation | Sex Discrimination | Sex Discrimination in Employment | Students
Date:
7/14/2023
Maker v. Temple Univ. (E.D. Pa. June 26, 2023)
Memorandum Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. Plaintiff, a former student in physical therapy at Temple University, brought contract and due process claims against the University after she was removed from her clinical internship due to safety concerns and dismissed from the program. The court ruled in favor of the University on plaintiff’s contract claims, finding no evidence of a promise to permit plaintiff to complete her clinical placement before assigning her a failing grade when, as here, she was deemed to be a safety risk to patients. It similarly ruled in favor of the University on her due process claims, finding (1) that the University was entitled to rely on the judgment of the clinical placement coordinator at her clinical site and (2) that it is entitled to remove a student from the internship setting based on concerns for safety and need not wait until a patient suffers injury.
Topics:
Academic Performance and Misconduct | Internships, Externships, & Clinical Work | Students
Date:
6/23/2023
Lee v. Yale Univ. (2nd Cir. June 20, 2023)
Summary Order affirming dismissal. Plaintiff, a forensic psychologist and former voluntary Assistant Clinical Professor in the Law and Psychiatry Division of the Yale School of Medicine, brought contract and state law claims against the University, alleging it violated her academic freedom when it declined to renew her appointment citing ethical concerns over her public statements diagnosing political figures with a “shared psychosis.” In affirming dismissal, the Second Circuit held that her contract claims failed because she had not adequately alleged a promise to renew her appointment even in the face of such public statements. It further held that her claim under a state statute establishing liability for an employer who disciplines or discharges an employee for exercising First Amendment rights failed because she had not adequately alleged remuneration.
Topics:
Academic Performance and Misconduct | Employee Discipline & Due Process | Faculty & Staff | Students
Date:
6/23/2023
Bhatnagar v. The New Sch. (2nd Cir. June 20, 2023)
Order affirming summary judgment in favor of the University. Plaintiff, a former student in the Master of Fine Arts program at the Parsons School of Design at the New School, brought disability discrimination and contract claims against the University after it awarded him grades of C+ for thesis work and incomplete coursework and conferred his degree, rather than permit him a third year for addiitonal studies. The Second Circuit affirmed summary judgment in favor of the University on his disability discrimination claim, finding that although instructors believed he suffered from mental illness, their actions were based on other concerns, including accusations he made against faculty, potential disruptions to the next MFA class, his inability to complete his thesis, and his resistance to meeting with the Dean to discuss his situation. It affirmed summary judgment on his contract claim, finding that it was fundamentally a grading dispute and therefore non-cognizable under the educational malpractice doctrine.
Topics:
Academic Performance and Misconduct | Disability Discrimination | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Students

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