College Professor Targeting Of Students- What Can A Student Do?

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995

Colleges can be tricky places to navigate.  They are especially tricky when a student encounters a professor who acts in inappropriate ways toward them.  Students often won't take action as they believe they may face retaliation or a failing grade if they complain, and unfortunately, they might.  But, if students don't do something, the college professor may continue with their harassing or wrongful conduct and even push the student out.  It is a tough spot.

Some examples I have seen, many during college clinical or internship placements, which seem almost ridiculous when reviewed, but are true:

〰A nursing student raises their hand and points out a difference between what the professor is saying and the textbook explanation.  The professor thereafter targets the student and starts lowering their grades on papers and other assignments, which means the student is in danger of failing.

〰A student contradicts a professor's assertion about them and the professor thereafter investigates them by interviewing multiple individuals to justify getting them kicked out of their major/school.

〰A professor does not like a student's political statements in class and later falsely accuses the student of recording and posting him on line, and subjecting the professor to ridicule.  The student never recorded anything but is then referred for discipline.

〰A professor does not like an older student who will not just take everything the professor says as gospel, and the student is thereafter monitored and written up on every possible occasion.

〰A professor fails to implement a disabled student's accommodations, which leads to a bad grade and termination from the program.

I usually find out about such student abuse when the student fails their course, finds out they are placed on remediation, is kicked out, or can just smell that something bad is about to happen.  

Here are some potential out-of-court actions which could potentially help or protect the student:

1)  Start a good and detailed timeline with actual dates, details and any proof.   

2)  File a grade appeal (if relevant) with the college.

3)  File a grievance/complaint against the professor with the college or university for wrongful conduct if there is enough proof.

4)  File a claim with the United States Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for discrimination/retaliation OR

4a)  A claim could also be filed with the University for discrimination/retaliation, but students generally only get one shot to allege discrimination via administrative processes (depending)- and have to decide who they think would address the matter more fairly- their college, or the Office for Civil Rights.

5)  Elicit help from the college's student disability office (if relevant).

6)  Bring witnesses if possible when speaking with the professor or university staff about the professor so they cannot allege inappropriate conduct by the student.

7)  Document everything. 

8)  Appeal any college discipline or other negative outcome and bring up the improper conduct by the professor.

9)  Encourage others to file complaints on the professor, as if no one files them, the college is not on notice of issues.  

10)  Try not to do anything to exacerbate the situation!

Some college professors are very used to being the most important person in the room and I think this can go to their heads.  They may not be used to being challenged or even questioned, and can react negatively afterward.  They also tend to be hard to challenge as grading in many areas is so subjective and they can often defend their sly lowering of grades by saying that was their opinion.  As such, students need to start protecting themselves when they even slightly smell a rat as that rat can bite and negatively impact their future graduation and career.

Best,

 

Michelle Ball

Education Law Attorney 

 

LAW OFFICE OF MICHELLE BALL 

717 K Street, Suite 228 

Sacramento, CA 95814 

Phone: 916-444-9064 

Email:help@edlaw4students.com 

Fax: 916-444-1209

Website, Blog, Twitter, Youtube, Facebook

 

Please see my disclaimer on the bottom of my blog page. This is legal information, not legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is formed by this posting.  This blog may not be reproduced without permission from the author and proper attribution of authorship. This blog may not reflect the current state of the law.

READ MORE - College Professor Targeting Of Students- What Can A Student Do?

Appealing A Bad OCR Decision On Alleged School Discrimination

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995

Have you filed a complaint alleging discrimination or improper retaliation with the United States Department of Education (USDOE) and their Office for Civil Rights (OCR) and received a negative ruling?  Did they say the clear wrongful acts (to you) were not really bad or not really discriminatory?  If so, you may have an appeal right if you act fast.

Per the USDOE website, within 60 days of the date of the letter issued by OCR, an appeal must be filed with the "Director of the Enforcement Office (Office Director)."  

The bases for appeal listed are:

AT LEAST ONE OF THE FOLLOWING

1)  Factual information was incomplete, and/or

2)  Factual analysis was not correct, and/or

3)  Wrong legal standard was applied 

AND

a)  The outcome would be changed due to #1-3 above.

The appeal must be filed timely, and if it isn't, the parent/student/claimant, must show a good reason the appeal was filed late, which is defined as:

"1.  the complainant was unable to submit the appeal within the 60-day timeframe because of illness or other incapacitating circumstances and the appeal was filed within 30 days after the period of illness or incapacitation ended; or
2  unique circumstances generated by agency action have adversely affected the complainant." (per USDOE/OCR)

The decision will be forwarded to the parent/student/claimant in writing after review.

So, if you are piping mad about an OCR ruling against you or your child, appeal of that decision may be an option, but must be pursued timely and with adequate proof.

Best,

Michelle Ball

Education Law Attorney 

LAW OFFICE OF MICHELLE BALL 

717 K Street, Suite 228 

Sacramento, CA 95814 

Phone: 916-444-9064 

Email:help@edlaw4students.com 

Fax: 916-444-1209

Website: http://www.edlaw4students.com/

Blog: http://edlaw4students.blogspot.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/michelleaball

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/EdLaw4Students

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Law-Office-of-Michelle-Ball/191273330901857

[please like my office on Facebook, subscribe via twitter and email, and check out my videos on Youtube!]

Please see my disclaimer on the bottom of my blog page. This is legal information, not legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is formed by this posting, etc. etc.!  This blog may not be reproduced without permission from the author and proper attribution of authorship.

READ MORE - Appealing A Bad OCR Decision On Alleged School Discrimination

Student On Student Vaginal Ultrasounds Found To Be Search Under Fourth Amendment

By Michelle Ball, California Education Attorney for Students since 1995

Earlier this week, the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals found that a transvaginal ultrasound requested of college students at Valencia College in Florida was a search for Fourth Amendment purposes.  

California is within the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals, but often sister jurisdiction decisions impact and influence decisions here.  The decision is noteworthy for its facts, which college students may want to be aware of, and for the definitive ruling that this conduct did involve a search for purposes of Fourth Amendment analysis.

The basics are that students who entered the state run Valencia College Sonography program were allegedly asked to "volunteer" for transvaginal ultrasounds to be performed on them by other students in the program (male and female).  Three students refused.  Two were allegedly thereafter badgered into allowing this invasive procedure to be done on them.  The third student did not agree and was as a result excluded from the ultrasound procedures, given "two failing grades and yelled at... for an hour until she had a panic attack," according to the decision in Doe v. Valencia College Board of Trustees (11th Circuit, October 4, 2016).  Per Judge William Pryor, these transvaginal ultrasounds involve insertion of a sonogram device into the student's vagina and can be painful and embarrassing.

The students filed suit in federal court alleging breach of their Fourth Amendment right to be free from unreasonable searches, breach of their First Amendment speech rights and other bases.  They requested damages, injunctive relief, and attorney fees and costs.  

The lower court (District Court) dismissed the students' complaint alleging that their communications on the procedure to the college were "school-sponsored" speech and that there was no search.  An appeal of this dismissal was made to the Eleventh Circuit, where the court, taking the students' assertions as fact for the proceeding, found that the speech was not "school-sponsored" and that the insertion of the objects into a student's vaginal area was indeed a search under the Fourth Amendment.

The matter now returns to the District Court for proceedings and presumably a trial.

This case shows the extent to which some colleges may breach students' rights: by forcefully leveraging the power of a potential degree to get students to submit to invasive procedures.  More shocking for most may be the fact of how the college treated the student who refused this intrusive search of her body- with reported degradation and failing grades.  

Just another day in the life of a college student at the mercy of government run educational institutions.

Best,

Michelle Ball

Education Law Attorney 

LAW OFFICE OF MICHELLE BALL 

717 K Street, Suite 228 

Sacramento, CA 95814 

Phone: 916-444-9064 

Email:help@edlaw4students.com 

Fax: 916-444-1209

Website: http://www.edlaw4students.com/

Blog: http://edlaw4students.blogspot.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/michelleaball

Youtube: http://www.youtube.com/user/EdLaw4Students

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Law-Office-of-Michelle-Ball/191273330901857

[please like my office on Facebook, subscribe via twitter and email, and check out my videos on Youtube!]

Please see my disclaimer on the bottom of my blog page. This is legal information, not legal advice and no attorney-client relationship is formed by this posting, etc. etc.!  This blog may not be reproduced without permission from the author and proper attribution of authorship.

READ MORE - Student On Student Vaginal Ultrasounds Found To Be Search Under Fourth Amendment