Court Rejects Student's Claim that University "Wasn't Good Enough"
by
Joseph C. Maya on Apr. 24, 2017
Other Education Lawsuit & Dispute Lawsuit
Summary: Blog post on a case where a student sued his school claiming that the education he received was inadequate.
If you have a question or concern about special education law, school administration, federal standards, or the overall rights of a student, please feel free to call the expert education law attorneys at Maya Murphy, P.C. in Westport today at (203) 221-3100 .
In the case of Cullen v. University of Bridgeport, a university moved for summary judgment, a preemptive decision by the court in favor of one party over the other, regarding a student’s claim for breach of contract for educational services. The university claims that its program had not failed in any fundamental respect, nor had it failed to fulfill a specific contractual obligation.
The student was enrolled in the university as a candidate for a degree in naturopathic medicine, a four-year, full-time post-graduate program. There were problems with a gynecology course offered by the program, from which the student withdrew. He was also unhappy with his clinical rotation, the credentials of the instructors, and a number of other classes which he dropped because the courses did not meet for the requisite number of hours. As a result of the lessened course load, he could not finish the program in four years. During his tenure, other students completed the naturopathic program in four years, and were qualified to sit for the credentialing exam. The court held the student failed to provide objective evidence that the university's program suffered a fundamental failure. The student did no more than simply allege that the education was not good enough, which was insufficient to state a cause of action.
Summary judgment was granted in favor of the university. “The [student] in this case has not pointed to an identifiable written or oral promise (other than the course catalog which was not submitted) that the [university] failed to honor that would support a breach of contract claim” said the court.“There is no evidence that the program has failed in any fundamental respect, or that the [university] has breached a specific contractual promise.”
If you have a child with a disability and have questions about special education law, please contact Joseph C. Maya, Esq., at 203-221-3100, or at JMaya@mayalaw.com, to schedule a free consultation.
Source: Cullen v. Univ. of Bridgeport, 2003 Conn. Super. LEXIS 3430, 2003 WL 23112678 (Conn. Super. Ct. Dec. 10, 2003)