Cases & Developments - National Association of College and University Attorneys

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Latest Cases & Developments

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
Harmon v. Tex. S. Univ. (Tex. App. June 15, 2023)
Opinion reversing dismissal and remanding. Plaintiff, a former nontenured English instructor at Texas Southern University (TSU) who had symptoms of osteoarthritis in her knee and was planning FMLA leave for knee surgery, brought a state law disability discrimination claim against TSU after it terminated her employment contract for failure to attend a mandatory meeting with her Department Chair and Dean concerning her professionalism. The trial court granted TSU’s plea to the jurisdiction. In reversing and remanding, the Court of Appeals of Texas found that she sufficiently alleged that her knee condition was a disability; that the Chair was likely aware of her need for a medical accommodation from her use of a cane, use of a “knee sleeve,” and references to doctors’ appointments; and that the Chair declined her requests to change the time of the mandatory meeting with her Chair and Dean.
Topics:
Disability Discrimination | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity
Date:
6/23/2023
Doe v. Oberlin Coll. (N.D. Ohio June 16, 2023)
Opinion and Order granting-in-part and denying-in-part Defendants’ Motion for Judgment on the Pleadings. Plaintiff, a student at Oberlin College, brought Title IX selective enforcement, contract, and negligence claims against the College and its Title IX Coordinator after a female student alleged that plaintiff had engaged in sexual misconduct with her when she was intoxicated. The College’s investigation subsequently found plaintiff had not violated its Sexual Misconduct Policy. The court permitted plaintiff to proceed on his selective enforcement claim, finding he sufficiently alleged that even though his accuser believed plaintiff was intoxicated at the time, the college did not investigate her for misconduct too. It cautioned that to show that he and his accuser were similarly situated, and thereby to survive summary judgment, plaintiff must show that they were equally intoxicated at the time. The court also permitted plaintiff’s breach of contract claim to proceed related to the College’s alleged departures from its disciplinary policies, but it dismissed his negligence claim as duplicative of his contract claim.
Topics:
Students | Title IX & Student Sexual Misconduct
Date:
6/23/2023
Univ. of Ky. v. Regard, et al. (K.Y. June 15, 2023)
Opinion affirming denial of governmental immunity. Plaintiffs, students at the University of Kentucky during the spring 2020 semester, brought contract claims against the University after it ceased in-person instruction and closed campus facilities due to the coronavirus pandemic. The University Bulletin detailed different mandatory fees for students with at least one on-campus course and those studying entirely online, but the Bulletin was not referenced in the Student Financial Obligation, to which students agreed in order to register. Affirming denial of the University’s assertion governmental immunity defense, the Supreme Court of Kentucky held that the University’s Student Financial Obligation incorporated the University Bulletin because the “two documents were delivered together, share mutuality of subject matter, and the overwhelming implication and surrounding circumstances leave no doubt that they were meant to be read together, thereby forming on binding contract.”
Topics:
Campus Police, Safety, & Crisis Management | Coronavirus
Date:
6/23/2023
U.S. Dep.’t of Education Updated Waivers and Modifications (June 19, 2023)
U.S. Department of Education Updated Waivers and Modifications after the termination of the COVID-19 National Emergency. With the end of the COVID-19 national emergency, ED issued updated waivers and modifications to Federal student financial aid programs under the Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students Act of 2003 (HEROES Act). ED had waived the requirement that institutions of higher education require a parental signature, if the applicant is a dependent student, to verify the number of family members in a household enrolled in IHEs, as well as permitted supporting documents to be sent via email or text message. That waiver expires at the end of the payment period beginning after the national emergency ends on April 10, 2023.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Financial Aid, Scholarships, & Student Loans | Higher Education Act (HEA) | Students
Date:
6/23/2023
U.S. Dep.’t of Education Regulatory Agenda for Spring 2023—Section 504 (June 13, 2023)
U.S. Department of Education Uniform Regulatory Agenda for Spring 2023. The filing indicates that the Department of Education plans to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in August 2023 to amend its regulations implementing Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.
Topics:
Disability Discrimination | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity
Date:
6/23/2023
U.S. Dep.’t of Education Regulatory Agenda for Spring 2023—FERPA (June 13, 2023)
U.S. Department of Education Uniform Regulatory Agenda for Spring 2023. The filing indicates that the Department of Education plans to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in November 2023 to amend its FERPA regulations.
Topics:
Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) | Privacy & Transparency
Date:
6/23/2023
U.S. Dep.’t of Education Regulatory Agenda for Spring 2023—Shared Ancestry & Ethnicity(June 13, 2023)
U.S. Department of Education Uniform Regulatory Agenda for Spring 2023. The filing indicates that the Department of Education plans to issue a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) in December 2023 to amend its regulations implementing Title VI of the Civil Rights Act to address harassment and other discrimination based on shared ancestry or ethnic characteristics. The filing notes that “OCR has received complaints of harassment and assaults directed at Jewish, Muslim, Hindu, and other students based on their shared ancestry or ethnicity.”
Topics:
Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Race and National Origin Discrimination
Date:
6/23/2023
ACE Comment Letter to ED re: Financial Value Transparence and Gainful Employment (June 20, 2023)
Comment Letter from the American Council on Education (ACE) and 47 other higher education associations to the U.S. Department of Education on its Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Financial Value Transparency and Gainful Employment (GE), Financial Responsibility, Administrative Capability, Certification Procedures, and Ability to Benefit. In the 15-page letter, higher education associations expressed multiple concerns about the proposed expansion of reporting obligations related to debt-to-earnings ratios and earnings premium rates, the burden of this reporting, the requirement for student acknowledgments if a program fails one or both tests, and the proposed inclusion of these metrics in Program Participation Agreement certification decisions. The associations also urged the Department to work with NC-SARA to address consumer protection requirements through the reciprocity agreement rather than to require all institutions to meet all state consumer protection laws related to closure, recruitment, and misrepresentation in all states in which they offer distance education.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Higher Education Act (HEA) | Program Integrity & Gainful Employment
Date:
6/23/2023
U.S. Dep.’t of Education Regulatory Agenda for Spring 2023—HEA (June 13, 2023)
U.S. Department of Education Uniform Regulatory Agenda for Spring 2023. In its filings, the Department of Education indicates its plans to issue Notices of Intent to Commence Negotiated Rulemaking in July 2023 on topics including Third-Party Services and Related Issues, Accreditation and Related Issues, State Authorization, Cash Management, Return of unearned Title IV funds, and Distance Education.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act

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