Mediocre Grad Student Sues For Getting Mediocre Grade

[I AM NOT THAT GUY 5,715]

Pa. grad student sues, says C-plus cost her $1.3M

Graduate student Megan Thode wasn't happy about the C-plus she received for one class, saying the mediocre grade kept her from getting her desired degree and becoming a licensed therapist — and, as a result, cost her $1.3 million in lost earnings.

Now Thode is suing her professor and Lehigh University in Bethlehem, claiming monetary damages and seeking a grade change.

A judge is hearing testimony in the case this week in Northampton County Court. Lehigh and the professor contend her lawsuit is without merit.

Thode took the class in fall of 2009. Her instructor, Amanda Eckhardt, testified this week that she stood by the grade, saying Thode failed to behave professionally and thus earned zero out of 25 points in class participation, bumping her down a full letter grade.

"I ... believed she received the grade she earned," Eckhardt said.

The C-plus prevented Thode, an otherwise A student, from going on to the next class and advancing in her professional therapist studies, according to The Express-Times of Easton. She wound up getting a master's degree in human development instead.

Her attorney, Richard Orloski, argued Eckhardt targeted Thode because she is an outspoken advocate for gay marriage. Eckhardt testified that while she believes marriage is between a man and woman, she would never allow her personal views to influence her treatment of students. She said Thode had outbursts in class, did not participate appropriately, was emotionally unstable and failed to heed a warning letter.

Stephen Thode, the plaintiff's father and a longtime finance professor at Lehigh, testified on his daughter's behalf and said her participation score was highly irregular.

"I have never heard of a case, not just at Lehigh, where a student achieved a zero in class participation where they attended and participated in every class," he said.

Northampton County Judge Emil Giordano is presiding over the nonjury trial and will issue a ruling on Thode's lawsuit after testimony concludes.

http://xfinity.comcast.net/articles/news-odd/20130213/US.Sued.Over.C/

World needs ditch diggers too. Get over yourself!

[X Factor 1,112]

Time for a sex change?

[bsd058 296]

Wow, so instead of taking the course again (which would have cost her MUCH less than $1.3 million), she decided to pursue a different degree. I think she should have the duty to mitigate damages by retaking the course. it's not the prof's fault she gave up on her dreams. The liability of the prof should be limited to the cost of the course at most. And I think this is ridiculous. lol. The lawsuit will probably not help her reputation. At least not in the scholarly world.

Edited February 13, 2013 by bsd058

[lostinblue 1,989]

Thode, the daughter of Lehigh finance professor Stephen Thode, was attending the Bethlehem school tuition-free in 2009 when she received the poor mark in her fieldwork class

Hamburg and Michael Sacks, another Lehigh lawyer, said that while Thode may have looked like a good student on paper, she was not ready to move on. They said Thode showed unprofessional behavior that included swearing in class and, on one occasion, having an outburst in which she began crying.

After getting the C+, Thode unsuccessfully filed internal grievances over the grade, showed up for meetings with her father, and insisted that Carr give her a written apology and a “plan for compensating me financially,” Sacks said.

With Thode on the witness stand Monday, Sacks underscored that Lehigh paid Thode’s freight — not just as a graduate student, but as an undergraduate at York College of Pennsylvania — because her father is a professor. Sacks also said the university set her up with jobs over the course of her attendance.

“Even after you sued Lehigh, you were getting free tuition and working for Lehigh?” Sacks asked.

“Yes,” Thode acknowledged.

http://iowntheworld.com/blog/?p=171817

{Even after you sued Lehigh, you were getting free tuition and working for Lehigh?” Sacks asked.

“Yes,” Thode acknowledged.}

[TBoneTX 46,294]

*** Thread moved from P&R to Off Topic -- news story not religious or political. ***

[SBB 74]

Wow, so instead of taking the course again (which would have cost her MUCH less than $1.3 million), she decided to pursue a different degree. I think she should have the duty to mitigate damages by retaking the course. it's not the prof's fault she gave up on her dreams. The liability of the prof should be limited to the cost of the course at most. And I think this is ridiculous. lol. The lawsuit will probably not help her reputation. At least not in the scholarly world.

For a grad student, getting below a B is the equivalent of failing out of the program. It's not clear that she would have been allowed to retake the course.