Cases & Developments - National Association of College and University Attorneys

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Date:
8/11/2023
Malhotra v. Univ. of Ill. At Urbana-Champaign (7th Cir. Aug. 8, 2023)
Opinion affirming dismissal. Plaintiff, a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in January 2021, brought due process claims against multiple University officials after he was suspended for two semesters for being present at a party at his fraternity house in violation of COVID restrictions. In affirming dismissal of plaintiff’s claim for injunctive relief, the Seventh Circuit held that he failed to allege a constitutionally protected property right in continued enrollment because he failed to allege facts sufficient to suggest the existence of an express or implied contract with the University to suspend him only for good cause or to follow its own procedures. It dismissed his claim for monetary damages against the officials in their individual capacities, finding his assertion that future disclosures of his disciplinary record “may” affect his career prospects was speculative.
Topics:
Campus Police, Safety, & Crisis Management | Coronavirus | Student Conduct | Students
Date:
8/11/2023
U.S. Dep.’t of Education Guidance on FAFSA Changes (Aug. 4, 2023)
U.S. Department of Education, Office of Federal Student Aid (FSA) Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) on FAFSA Simplification Act Changes for Implementation in 2024-25. The DCL “explains the final changes to the need analysis formulas and the calculation of Pell Grant awards that the Department is implementing beginning with the 2024-25 Award Year” to complete the implementation of the FAFSA Simplification Act. It highlights the transition from Expected Family Contribution to the new Student Aid Index, new requirements related to the use of Federal Tax Information, and changes to the Need Analysis Formulas and calculations of Pell Grant Awards.
Topics:
Financial Aid, Scholarships, & Student Loans | Students
Date:
8/4/2023
Steshenko v. Foothill-De Anza Cmty. Coll. Dist. (Cal. App. July 26, 2023)
Opinion affirming summary judgment in favor of the College. Plaintiff, a former student in the medical laboratory technician (MLT) program at De Anza College who is over 50, brought age discrimination, contract, and intentional infliction of emotional distress claims against the College after he was unable to secure a clinical externship as required for graduation and licensure. Three sites declined to hire him, and he refused to consider sites he deemed to require a prohibitive commute. In affirming summary judgment in favor of the College on his state-law age discrimination claim, the California Court of Appeals held that the MLT program was an educational program to prepare plaintiff for employment rather than a training program leading to employment. His contract claim failed because he failed to show either (1) the College’s contracts with its clinical placement sites were included in his contract, or (2) the College breached its contractual relation with him. His IIED claim failed because, while he alleged the College could have done more to assist him in securing an externship with one of his preferred sites, he presented no evidence that the College acted in an extreme or outrageous manner.
Topics:
Age Discrimination | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Internships, Externships, & Clinical Work | Students
Date:
8/4/2023
Askin v. Univ. of Notre Dame (Ky. Ct. App. July 28, 2023)
Opinion affirming summary judgment in favor of the University. Plaintiff, a former football player at the University of Notre Dame in the 1980s and later in the NFL who suffers from chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE), brought personal injury claims against the University, alleging that his CTE was the result of multiple concussions he experienced as a student-athlete. In affirming summary judgment in favor of the University, the Court of Appeals of Kentucky held that plaintiff’s claims were time barred, noting that under the discovery rule his claims accrued in 2014 when he was put on notice of the harm through a discussion with a pain management nurse of pending litigation with the NFL, rather than in 2018 when he was diagnosed with CTE.
Topics:
Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration | Student Athlete Issues | Students | Tort Litigation
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:
8/4/2023
Boermeester v. Carry (Cal. July 31, 2023)
Opinion reversing and remanding. Plaintiff, a former student at the University of Southern California, sued the University and its Vice President of Student Affairs, seeking a writ of administrative mandate after he was expelled for intimate partner violence. The University had conducted separate and individual evidentiary hearings for both plaintiff and the complainant. The trial court denied the writ, but the Court of Appeals reversed on the grounds that plaintiff did not have the opportunity for a live hearing with cross-examination. The California Supreme Court reversed again, holding under section 1094.5 of the California Code of Civil Procedure that “though universities are required to comply with the common law doctrine of fair procedure by providing accused students with notice of the charges and a meaningful opportunity to be heard, they are not required to provide accused students with the opportunity to directly or indirectly cross-examine the accuse and other witnesses at a live hearing with the accused student in attendance, either in person or virtually.”
Topics:
Constitutional Issues | Due Process | Students | Title IX & Student Sexual Misconduct
Date:
8/4/2023
J.C. v. Bd. of Regents of the Univ. Sys. of Ga. (N.D. Ga. Aug. 1, 2023)
Order granting-in-part and denying-in-part Defendants’ Motion for Summary Judgment. Plaintiff, a former student at Georgia College and State University (GCSU), brought Title IX and multiple other claims against the GCSU, alleging that she was sexually assaulted and harassed by another student, that GCSU unreasonably delayed its investigation and interim measures, and that the Vice President of Student Affairs unreasonably reversed the determination that the respondent was responsible for the assault. The court previously awarded summary judgment to GCSU on all of plaintiff’s claims except her Title IX claim. Defendants then sought summary judgment on the Title IX claim, citing Cummings v. Premier Rehab Keller, P.L.L.C. The court held that plaintiff’s damages related to counseling and psychiatric treatment to redress emotional injuries are unavailable under Title IX post-Cummings. It permitted her to proceed, however, with respect to her alleged economic losses related to tuition, lost income, and prepaid rent for her apartment near campus.
Topics:
Students | Title IX & Student Sexual Misconduct
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:
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:
7/28/2023
Fizulich v. Killings (N.D. N.Y. July 20, 2023)
Memorandum-Decision and Order granting-in-part and denying-in-part Defendant’s Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiff, a former student-athlete at the State University of New York at Albany who is white, brought tort claims against the University’s basketball coach, who is African American, and discrimination and contract claims against the University in the wake of an incident in which he alleges the coach assaulted him in the locker room during an away game. Plaintiff alleges that the University disciplined and planned to terminate the coach, but later reversed the termination decision following community pressure, which plaintiff alleged resulted in his constructive termination from the team. The court permitted plaintiff’s Title VI discrimination claim to proceed, finding his factual allegations sufficient to support a plausible inference of discrimination. The court, however, held that plaintiff’s contract claim, which asserted that the University did not offer him the protective measures provided for in its Violence Policy, was barred by sovereign immunity.
Topics:
Contracts | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Race and National Origin Discrimination | Student Athlete Issues | Students

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