Cases & Developments - National Association of College and University Attorneys

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Date:
10/29/2025
Goldman v. Ariz. Bd. of Regents (D. Ariz. Oct. 29, 2025)
Opinion and Order Granting in Part Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiff, a former nursing student at the University of Arizona, brought more than a dozen claims against the university, the Arizona Department of Administration (ADOA), and several individuals alleging violations of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), the Rehabilitation Act, and other civil rights, constitutional and state claims, based on the defendants alleged failure to provide accommodations for his disability. The court dismissed the majority of the plaintiff’s claims, finding a variety of procedural deficiencies with the complaint including that claims were either made against an entity or person that is not deemed a judicial entity or public entity, or plaintiff failed to follow state law requirements for bringing claims against state officials. However, the court held that plaintiff had satisfied the minimal pleading requirements necessary for four claims against the university: (1) violation of Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), (2) violation of the Rehabilitation Act (RA), (3) unlawful retaliation, and (4) hostile educational environment, finding sufficient allegations of failure to accommodate plaintiff’s disability including “excessive scrutiny during exams, skepticism from professors regarding accommodations, disruption of testing environments, dismissive responses to questions, and differential treatment and isolation from peers.” Finally, the court required plaintiff to show cause as to why he should not be sanctioned under Rule 11, citing plaintiff’s briefings to the court, which included a “hallucinatory case” that did not exist, along with several quotes from cases that did not match and “unusual language formulations” indicating likely use of generative artificial intelligence (AI).
Topics:
Disability Discrimination | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Retaliation
Date:
10/27/2025
ACE Comments on Regulatory Reform of AI (Oct. 27, 2025)
The American Council on Education (ACE) along with eight other higher education associations, sent comments to the Trump Administration in response to the request for information on Artificial Intelligence (AI) and federal regulation, urging deregulation and the implementation of essential safeguards. The comments outline several regulatory efforts, such as (1) need for human oversight in administrative processes; (2) concerns for under-resourced institutions; and (3) ensuring established privacy protections are supported.
Topics:
Data Privacy | Disability Discrimination | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Privacy & Transparency | Technology | Technology Accessibility
Date:
10/27/2025
State of Washington, et al., v. Department of Education, et al., (W.D. Wash. Oct. 27, 2025)
Topics:
Admissions | Campus Police, Safety, & Crisis Management | Disability Discrimination | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Distressed & Suicidal Students | Grants, Contracts, & Sponsored Research | Sexual Misconduct | Students
Date:
10/22/2025
Department of Justice Announces Agreement with the University of Virginia (Oct. 22, 2025)
The Department of Justice (DOJ) announced a settlement agreement with the University of Virginia that effectively pauses pending investigations and ensures continued eligibility for federal grants and award in exchange for the universities commitment to comply with all federal civil rights laws including DOJ’s July 29, 2025 guidance letter “so long as that Guidance remains in force and to the extent consistent with relevant judicial decisions.” The university is required to provide relevant information and data to DOJ on a quarterly basis through 2028, with the president of the university personally certifying compliance with the agreement.
Topics:
Admissions | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Diversity in Employment | Enforcement of Non-Discrimination Laws | Faculty & Staff | Race and National Origin Discrimination | Students
Date:
10/9/2025
Tarrant Cnty. Coll. Dist. v. Chavez (Tex. App. Oct. 9, 2025)
Memorandum Opinion Affirming the Denial of Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiff-Appellee, a former employee at Tarrant County Community College District, sued the college for sex discrimination and retaliation under the Texas Commission on Human Rights Act (TCHRA) after he filed a complaint alleging misandrist comments from female co-workers and was subsequently terminated for violating a college policy prohibiting the recording of conversations of other employees without their consent. The college brought a motion to dismiss, but the trial court denied the motion finding plaintiff-appellee had raised a genuine issue of material fact over whether the college had violated the TCHRA. On appeal, the court affirmed the trial court’s ruling, holding that because plaintiff-appellee provided some evidence that he was treated less favorably than a similarly situated female employee, who was allowed to remain in her position despite violating the same college policy, he met his “minimal initial burden” to state a prima facie case of discrimination. The court further held that allowing the female employee to remain in her position, even after committing the “stated-terminable offense” raised a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the college’s stated reason for terminating plaintiff-appellee was pretextual.
Topics:
Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Retaliation | Sex Discrimination
Date:
10/9/2025
Reynolds v. State ex rel. the Bd. of Regents for the Okla. Agric. & Mech. Colleges (W.D. Okla. Oct. 9, 2025)
Opinion Granting Summary Judgment for the Defendant. Plaintiff, a former student at Oklahoma State University College of Osteopathic Medicine, sued the university alleging violations under the Americans with Disabilities Act and § 504 of the Rehabilitation Act, after the university dismissed her from the program following her repeated failure to obtain a passing score on a required examination. On plaintiff’s disparate treatment claim, the court granted summary judgment for the university, finding no evidence that the university had acted with deliberate indifference. To the contrary, the court found that the university offered plaintiff “generous assistance in her struggle to complete the [exam],” including offering her the option of a leave of absence to study and providing her a coach for exam preparation. The court also granted summary judgment to the university on plaintiff’s accommodation claim, finding plaintiff had failed to show the university was on notice of her need for an accommodation and in any case, her “novel” request to repeat her second year was not a reasonable accommodation.
Topics:
Disability Discrimination | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity
Date:
10/8/2025
Saud v. DePaul Univ. (7th Cir. Oct. 8, 2025)
Opinion Affirming Summary Judgment. Plaintiff, a former adjunct professor at DePaul University, brought a racial discrimination claim under 42 U.S.C. §1981, after the university deemed him ineligible for future employment following a campus Title IX investigation found he had sexually harassed a student. The district court granted summary judgment for the university, finding that the plaintiff had failed to raise a genuine issue of material fact as to whether the university had discriminated against the plaintiff. The 7th circuit affirmed, holding that “[s]exual misconduct is a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason for an adverse employment action” and that the plaintiff had failed to establish that the university’s action was pretextual because he had failed to provide any evidence that the university did not “honestly believe[] it made the correct employment decision.”
Topics:
Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Employee Sexual Misconduct | Race and National Origin Discrimination | Sex Discrimination
Date:
9/30/2025
American Association of University Professors, et al., v. Marco Rubio, et al., (D. Mass. Sep. 30, 2025)
Findings of Fact and Conclusions of Law. Plaintiffs, the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) and several individual chapters and organizational plaintiffs, sued the federal government for violations of the First Amendment, Fifth Amendment and the Administrative Procedure Act (APA), arguing that the government’s actions against noncitizen students and faculty who participated in pro-Palestinian protests amounted to an “ideological-deportation policy” in violation of their rights. Following a two-week trial, the court issued a 161-page ruling, holding that that the administration’s actions were an unconstitutional violation of the First Amendment and also arbitrary and capricious in violation of the APA. On plaintiff’s First Amendment claims, the court found that the government had “engaged in a mode of enforcement leading to detaining, deporting, and revoking noncitizens’ visas solely on the basis of political speech, and with the intent of chilling such speech and that of others similarly situated.” The court held that these actions were unconstitutional and noted “the effect of these targeted deportation[s] [] continues [] to chill freedom of speech to this day.” In considering relief for the plaintiffs, the court concluded that “it will not do simply to order the Public Officials to cease and desist in the future,” but also outlined a number of “concerns” and “constraints” that will govern the upcoming remedy hearing.
Topics:
Constitutional Issues | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | First Amendment & Free Speech | Race and National Origin Discrimination | Religious Discrimination & Accommodation
Date:
9/24/2025
Barringer-Brown v. Southside Va. Cmty. Coll. (E.D. Va. Sep. 24, 2025)
Opinion Granting in Part Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiff, a former professor and dean at Southside Virginia Community College proceeding pro se, sued the college for discrimination and retaliation under Title VII and defamation under state law following her termination after receiving negative feedback from her supervisor, which she maintained was “bogus and defective.” The court dismissed the college as it was not a proper party under Virginia law, and instructed the plaintiff to proceed instead against the Virginia Community College System. The court also dismissed plaintiff’s discriminatory discharge claim, finding she had failed to provide a “valid comparator” or any evidence to the contrary beyond her own “lengthy self-evaluation, and her defamation claim, finding the college had sovereign immunity. In allowing her retaliation claim to proceed, the court found that plaintiff’s filing of an EEOC charge falls under Title VII protected activity and may be pretext as she was terminated two weeks thereafter.
Topics:
Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Employment Separation, RIFs, ERIPs & Retrenchment | Faculty & Staff | Retaliation
Date:
9/22/2025
Spectrum WT v. Wendler (N.D. Tex. Sep. 23, 2025)
Opinion Granting in Part Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiffs, an LGBT+ student organization and two former student group leaders at West Texas A&M University, were granted a preliminary injunction after the university president canceled a drag show that plaintiffs organized and which they maintained was a violation of their First Amendment rights. On defendants’ motion to dismiss, the court granted defendants’ motion with respect to the two individual plaintiffs, finding they no longer had Article III standing for any alleged injury, since one had left the university and the other had graduated. However, the court rejected defendants’ motion to dismiss the organizational plaintiff, holding (1) an unincorporated association holds the capacity to sue or be sued in Texas; and (2) the student organization has standing because it was able to demonstrate “ongoing harm” based on the substantial likelihood of the university president canceling future drag shows that plaintiffs wished to organize.
Topics:
Constitutional Issues | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | First Amendment & Free Speech | Gender Identity & Sexual Orientation Discrimination | Student Organizations | Students

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