Cases & Developments - National Association of College and University Attorneys

FILTERS

Latest Cases & Developments

Date:
4/14/2023
Trahanas v. Nw. Univ. (7th Cir. Apr. 7, 2023)
Opinion affirming summary judgment in favor of the University. Plaintiff, a former research technologist at the Northwestern University School of Medicine who had been diagnosed with ADHD, depression, and anxiety, brought hostile work environment and FMLA retaliation claims against the University and her former supervisor after she was terminated for failing to return from FMLA leave. Shortly after her leave began, her supervisor discovered that she had begun experiments without keeping appropriate records, which prompted him to rescind his letter of recommendation supporting her medical school applications. In affirming summary judgment in favor of the University, the Seventh Circuit held that plaintiff’s hostile work environment claims failed because she never reported alleged hostile statements by her supervisor to University officials, and she never informed her supervisor or other officials of alleged harassment by her coworkers. It held that her retaliation claim against the University failed because she never attempted to extend her leave when she failed to return to work. It held that her retaliation claim against her supervisor failed because she was unable to show injury. Specifically, by the time he rescinded his letter, nine schools had already rejected her applications, and the remaining six requested additional application materials, which she never supplied.
Topics:
Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) | Retaliation | Sex Discrimination | Sex Discrimination in Employment
Date:
4/14/2023
Spears v. La. Coll. (5th Cir. Apr. 6, 2023)
Opinion affirming-in-part and reversing-in-part summary judgment in favor of the College. Plaintiff, a former Professor of Health and Physical Education at Louisiana College who continued to teach as an adjunct “Senior Professor” after her retirement, brought discrimination, retaliation, contract, and defamation claims against the College after her contract was not renewed following her medical leave for cancer treatment. The Fifth Circuit reversed summary judgment in favor of the College on plaintiff’s discrimination and retaliation claims, finding that there was a genuine issue of fact as to whether she had told the College she would not be returning for the new academic year, which the College had asserted as its legitimate basis for her nonrenewal. It affirmed summary judgment in favor of the College on her contract claim, finding that her adjunct contract expressly disclaimed any expectation of continued employment. It also affirmed summary judgment in favor of the College on her defamation claim, finding that she failed to provide evidence that a response by the College President to a posting by plaintiff’s sister in the College’s Alumni Facebook Group was made in bad faith.
Topics:
Age Discrimination | Disability Discrimination | Discrimination, Accommodation, & Diversity | Retaliation | Sex Discrimination | Sex Discrimination in Employment
Date:
4/14/2023
Doe v. The Coll. of N.J. (D. N.J. Apr. 6, 2023)
Memorandum Opinion denying Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss. Plaintiff, a graduate of The College of New Jersey (TCNJ), brought Title IX claims against TCNJ and its President after TCNJ denoted a 2-year retroactive suspension on plaintiff’s transcript, after a post-graduation investigation substantiated allegations of a sexual assault that took place when plaintiff was enrolled as a student. Plaintiff further alleged that the complainant initially reported the alleged assault in October 2018, but that TCNJ did not provide him with a notice of allegations until May 2021, when the complainant decided to pursue a formal complaint. In denying Defendants’ Motion to Dismiss, the court held that plaintiff sufficiently alleged multiple procedural flaws and significant external pressures to raise a plausible inference of gender bias in TCNJ’s investigation and decision to sanction him.
Topics:
Students | Title IX & Student Sexual Misconduct
Date:
4/14/2023
Fugfugosh v. Trs. of the Cal. State Univ. (Cal. App. Apr. 6, 2023)
Opinion affirming judgment against plaintiff. Plaintiff, a candidate for student body president for the 2020-2021 academic term at California State University, East Bay, sued the University, the student government association, and multiple individual officials after he received 43.28 percent of the initial vote, but a runoff election gave the office to his opponents. Plaintiff alleged that the “50% + 1” rule was invalid because it was not written in the Cal State’s Elections Code. In affirming dismissal of plaintiff’s complaint, the California Court of Appeals held that in signing the Candidate Form, he had expressly agreed to submit any dispute or grievance to the Election Committee or the Board of Directors of the student government and waived his right to litigate those disputes in the courts.
Topics:
Contracts | Litigation, Mediation & Arbitration | Student Organizations | Students
Date:
4/14/2023
Doe v. The Regents of the Univ. of Cal. (Cal. App. Apr. 6, 2023)
Opinion affirming denial of administrative mandate. Plaintiff, a former dental student at the University of California, Los Angeles, sued the University after it expelled him for accessing child pornography from the University’s computer network. Criminal charges against him were eventually dismissed when the prosecutor announced that it was “unable to proceed” with the case. However, after consideration of extensive evidence including the redacted arrest warrant, a statement from the Police Detective, information about the University’s IP address structure, and plaintiff’s own statements, a conduct panel found by a preponderance of the evidence that he had accessed a Dropbox account containing child pornography from the University’s computer network. In upholding the expulsion, the California Court of Appeals held that there was substantial evidence in the record that it was “more likely than not” that plaintiff had accessed the suspect Dropbox account.
Topics:
Student Conduct | Students | Technology
Date:
4/14/2023
In re Mass. Inst of Tech. (N.L.R.B. Region No. 1 Mar. 13, 2023)
Decision and Order dismissing petitioner’s request for self-determination election. Petitioner, the union representing graduate student employees at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), sought to include in the bargaining unit graduate fellows who receive grants but who are not research assistants or teaching assistants. The Regional Director concluded that the graduate fellows are not employees, noting that although they serve the University’s interests in “advancing knowledge,” their compensation is tied only to maintaining academic good standing.
Topics:
Collective Bargaining | Faculty & Staff | Financial Aid, Scholarships, & Student Loans | Students
Date:
4/14/2023
Update: Title IX NPRM on Sex-Related Criteria for Athletic Teams (Apr. 13, 2023)
U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Title IX and Sex-Related Eligibility Criteria for Male and Female Athletic Teams. The proposed rule would require that “If a recipient adopts or applies sex-related criteria that would limit or deny a student’s eligibility to participate on a male or female team consistent with their gender identity, such criteria must, for each sport, level of competition, and grade or education level: (i) be substantially related to the achievement of an important educational objective, and (ii) minimize harms to students whose opportunity to participate on a male or female team consistent with their gender identity would be limited or denied.” OCR also released a Fact Sheet on the NPRM. Update: On April 13, the Department published the NPRM in the Federal Register. Comments are due on or before May 15, 2023.
Topics:
Athletics & Sports | Gender Equity in Athletics
Date:
4/14/2023
Update on ED’s Third-Party Servicer Guidance (Apr. 11, 2023)
U.S. Department of Education Update on Third-Party Servicer (TPS) Guidance. The Department announced that the September 1, 2023 effective date for its Dear Colleague Letter (DCL) on Third-Party Services is no longer in effect. ED intends to update the DCL, and “the effective date of the revised final guidance letter will be at least six months after its publication.” ED also identified several activities that had received significant public comment that are not subject to TPS requirements, including study abroad programs, recruitment of foreign students not eligible for Title IV aid, clinical or externship opportunities closely monitored by personnel at the institution, and certain course sharing arrangements, dual or concurrent enrollment programs, and local police departments helping to compile and analyze crime statistics. Additionally, ED will remove the provision on foreign ownership of third-party servicers and may make further clarifications as it continues to review public comments.
Topics:
Accreditation, Authorizations, & Higher Education Act | Financial Aid, Scholarships, & Student Loans | Higher Education Act (HEA) | Students

NACUA Annual Conference

Join us in the Music City June 29 – July 2 to connect, learn, and lead alongside higher education attorneys shaping policy, practice, and impact nationwide together.