Professor ruined my reputation in college, can I sue?

[Sybil226]

"No one said small crimes are "okay." What every one is telling you is that you have NO CASE. "

Hey, wait a second. Now you're forgetting what you wrote above, and resorting to slapping me with the typical "get over it, you have no case" that everybody loves in this forum.

Do you remember your last post? I responded to your questions regarding why I used murder and rape, and I also mentioned that I found it silly to compare my problems to other people's problems to conclude that my claim is ridiculous. But now you jump all the way to the "nothing illegal happened, get over it."
How do you know nothing illegal happened? My concern is not that he didn't give me accomodations, as much as it is that he did not allow me to withdraw (which I later found I could have done without his permission up to a certain date) and that he said I neglected my studies, when I spent half an hour talking to him about my situation.

"Perhaps the prof thought you were lying or making up stories. Maybe he really thought you were on illegal drugs. Just b/c you say something, doesn't make it true."

Are you serious? So it is ok to assume students are lying just because? After my record showed a 3.8GPA, and even when I requested withdrawal? Does that really sound like a lie to you?

"You won't be happy until someone says you have a case. Nothing illegal happened. GET OVER IT."

No, that's not true. The only one able to determine whether I have a case would be a jury trial and a lawyer. I am only asking if I should take legal action or address the issue to the dean. That's it. Why does everybody love to slap with the "get over it, you have no case" ? I don't get it.

 

[cmorris]

How do you know nothing illegal happened?

**Based on your posts nothing illegal happened.

My concern is not that he didn't give me accomodations, as much as it is that he did not allow me to withdraw (which I later found I could have done without his permission up to a certain date) and that he said I neglected my studies, when I spent half an hour talking to him about my situation.

**Really? What did you focus on in your posts? It is YOUR responsibility to know when you can and can't withdraw. Was this before or after the drop date? Why didn't YOU know? Where is YOUR responsibility in this?

So it is ok to assume students are lying just because? After my record showed a 3.8GPA, and even when I requested withdrawal? Does that really sound like a lie to you?

**No one said it was okay. It is just not illegal to make that assumption. Good students lie too!!!

The only one able to determine whether I have a case would be a jury trial and a lawyer. I am only asking if I should take legal action or address the issue to the dean. That's it.

**Waste your money if you want to. Ask the dean if you want. No one is stopping you.

Your main focus was the accomodations. Again, did you register with the disability office? He doesn't have to believe you. Again, where is the legit documentation? So what if he said you couldn't drop? You have a responsibility to know when you can and cannot drop a class. There are such things called a catalog, schedule book, school web address [provides lots of helpful info], calendars, etc. Where is your responsibility in this???

 

[rmet4nzkx]

www.pacer.org/pride/504.htm
You aren't talking the talk or walking the walk for ADA issues in education and since you are avoiding the questions on the issue of working with the disabilities office there must be something you are not telling us.

You have to ask for accommodations before to receive them. Working long hours and having to pay bills does not qualify you for ADA accommodations. ADD may allow specific accommodations which must be submitted in writing, what did your doctors say? You ahve to go about this the correct way.

I'm disabled, I worked full time, raised a family, went to school full time, did internships and earned my doctorate following a significant head injury, so I know what it is like to do all of these things, with and without accommodations.

 

[meganproser]

I have no idea what rights you may or may not have under the ADA, so I can’t comment on that aspect of your question.

You seem to feel that this prof misrepresented your performance to others, casting you in the worst possible light. He may have been unfair or morally wrong, but from what you have said, his actions seem well within the law (ADA aside).

Abuse of power is a common occurrence and unless the abuse is really severe, there is little the victim can do about it.

You need to consider the risk of retaliation before you do anything. If you are willing to take the risk, you should at least “have your say”. You can’t know if your words will fall on deaf ears or be the final straw for someone who has a history of abusing their power. I’ve seen some astonishing things happen as a result of someone sending their version of a story to the right person in an organization. Either way, you will have gone on record with your version of events and some of the frustration you feel will subside.

I think you should carefully document your struggles and make sure a copy goes to the Dean and all appropriate faculty members. Tell them you feel you owe them all an explanation because you care about your reputation and you want them to know how important your education is to you.

I wouldn’t mention the difficult prof at all. If any of them remember his version of events, they will see for themselves that the two versions don’t match. Don’t appear to be trying to discredit the prof., let them figure it out for themselves.

Just tell them how hard you have been working to keep up with everything, assure them that you will continue to do your best, and express your gratitude to those who have cared enough to try to work with you.

I like your spirit. Someone gave me a plaque that reads:

When we stand up, we must know that we are standing up for everybody.
Each of us needs to know in fact, that we are rainbows in the clouds for everybody.
By Maya Angelou

I think you are going to do a lot of standing up in your life.

 

[BelizeBreeze]

What is the name of your state? New York
there was a point where I felt I could not continue and was about to crash. I asked my professors for help, and I received accomodations from 3 out of 4 college professors.

And legally those three were not obligated to give any accommodations.

The problem was with the fourth, a biology professor who showed total opposition to giving me any kind of "advantage" by extending deadlines on projects and tests. He refused to give me any sort of extension, not a single day, nothing at all.

And that is his rights as your instructor.

When I failed the first test in his class, I was devastated and showed up in his office.I told him I was not going to be able to continue, and asked if I could withdraw from the course. He refused and acted stiff and condescending.

Again, perfectly within his rights. And, in fact, if you had bothered to ask the administration office, you might have found out the deadline for withdrawing a class. You can't do it just because you fail a test.

For some reason he always saw me as a slacker, and not like a student with a difficult situation and a disability.

So far you have listed no disability.

I had to stay in the class for the remainder of the semester, but in the end I withdrew from the entire semester because of medical reasons.

"Medical Reasons" is not a disability.

The problem arose when this professor approached the honors program (his class was an honors course) and completely demolished my character and my academic integrity without ever mentioning anything related to my health/financial conditions.

And did you ever present documentation that you in fact suffered from a disability or did you just 'tell' them you had one? I already know the answer.

Since his attitude towards me truly affected me and angered me, after numerous attempts to get accomodations, and after receiving an attitude from him and rejections of all of my requests, I refused to have any further communication with him and I treated him with the very same contempt that he treated me.

Real grown up attitude. I guess he was right.

He approached the honors program, accused me of being "rude" and "lacking in decorum", said I was not fit for the honors program, accused me of "sleeping in class", which I did a few times, and while I agree that it was wrong, I believe he should have at least disclosed the fact that he was "aware that I was working until 3am and he knew about it" if he wanted to make an honest complaint.

I would have tossed your butt out of my class the FIRST time that you fell asleep. YOu are hanging your 'cause' on a disability when basically you were tired. Tough. People work fulltime jobs everyday and still graduate from college at a much higher level than you were attending.

But he did not mention this, of course. He did not bother to mention that I had made him fully aware of my financial and health conditions.

So, being tired is a medical condition again? And financial problems are not his concern.

He simply accused me of slacking, neglecting my studies and lacking in decorum without further explanation. If he wanted to kick me out of the honors program for truthful reasons, let's say, because "my economic and financial reasons did not allow me to put the effort it took to stay", I would have not felt offended or slandered.

Well, you still were not slandered or libeled.

But he went as far as to claim that "I appeared as if I was doing drugs" even though he KNEW that I was indeed, taking medication for my problems, but he did not state that, he said I appeared like a "drug-addict."

Opinion is not actionable.

I explained to this professor that I barely could pay my rent and that I suffered from depression and ADD, and the response he gave me was: "Well, these professors don't care. Some say you should'nt even be allowed to remain in this college."

Again, his opinion and perfectly within the law.

I was in complete shock and disbelief that these people had created this horrible image of me when the reality was that I was going through something really rough. In previous semesters, when I was not working late or had to pay rent, I had held a 4.0 gpa, was a tutor, and won a number of awards. Now I fear walking through the halls of this school because I don't know what faculty is saying behind my back after what this professor did.

This is a monster of your own making.

Is there anything I can do legally to resolve this problem?

Not and win.

It was devastating, especially knowing that the professors KNEW of my true problems and still concealed them in his negative evaluations. He described me like he would a criminal/drug addict, even though I have never even done drugs in my life. I was taking prescription medications from my doctor.

Get over yourself. You have done nothing here but make excuses. And you have absolutely no legal grounds to sue anyone.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

The only one able to determine whether I have a case would be a jury trial and a lawyer. This is totally false! A jury doesn't determine if you have a case. An attorney may decide whether or not to represent you based on the strengths of your case.
I am only asking if I should take legal action or address the issue to the dean. The answer to this is obvious.

That's it. Why does everybody love to slap with the "get over it, you have no case" ? I don't get it.

Because, you have no case. You have not answered the questions required to determine if you have a case under ADA nor have you taken any action to mitigate your loss, if any. If you have such a great GPA why haven't you taken the basic actions required? No one here can tell you what your school policy is in regard to ADA Accommodations or if you even asked for them, which most likely, you didn't. You ignore the information and advice given to you.

Let's try this again:
YOU HAVE NO CASE! NOW, RETAKE YOUR CLASSES & DON'T SIGN UP FOR MORE THAN YOU CAN HANDLE, IF THEY WILL LET YOU BACK IN THE PROGRAM!

Please note: If you sue the school, even if you have a very good case, don't expect to finish your degree at any other institution. That is reality.

Get some good medical care.

 

[Sybil226]

Thanks a lot for your post, Meganproser. I guess you're right, there's always a risk in standing up for oneself. I've known some students in this college who've gone straight to the president to make a complaint about a particular professor who acted with negligence, especially in the honors program there's lots of complaints, and the student did indeed get results, so I was considering something like that, but I guess I will wait till I graduate and see whether I still feel strong about it.

I never documented my disability because most professors gave me accomodations as long as I showed my prescription or used a doctor note. This was the very first incident where regardless of anything, I was not accomodated. There are so many students who get accomodations because of problems that are not even disabilities, so I felt it was unnecessary at that point. And the economic reason is not "the" reason, but having ADD plus very limited time to do work was the killer.

Thanks again.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

Please see your psychiatrist, you are still having attention problems and your medication may require adjustment. You are not getting it or is it selective attention there is no ADA accommodation for selective attention.

 

[Sybil226]

Sorry if you got confused, but I wasn't replying to your post. I was replying to meganproser's. Right now I'm doing just fine in school, so I don't think I need any adjustments in my medication. This was two years ago, right now my gpa is up again.
And for the tenth time, if I want to bring up the issue with this professor, it is not to complain about an ADA violation, but about his purposeful misrepresentation of my behavior. The title of my thread is "Professor ruined my reputation", not "Professor violated ADA." I only want to address the fact that he had me kicked out of a program by saying I purposely neglected my studies, without ever mentioning that he was aware of the actual reasons of why I could not complete my work. I want to address that he acted in a way detrimental to me and not ethical.

I know you will come back and try to tear this to shreds as well, if it makes you happy.. do as you please. I know this is what this forum is all about, with the exception of some posters, so I guess I'll take it from where it comes.

 

[Sybil226]

Abuse of power is a common occurrence and unless the abuse is really severe, there is little the victim can do about it.

I’ve seen some astonishing things happen as a result of someone sending their version of a story to the right person in an organization.

When we stand up, we must know that we are standing up for everybody.
Each of us needs to know in fact, that we are rainbows in the clouds for everybody.
By Maya Angelou

I think you are going to do a lot of standing up in your life.

Thanks a lot for the emotional support and the insightful advice. If you have time, would you mind sharing what you witnessed (astonishing things happen a result of someone sending their version of a story) and what the results were? You don't have to go in great detail, just so that I can see how others have gone about giving their side of the story, how and when they did it, and whether they faced repercussions/retaliation (i.e. did they lose their job? did they burn their bridges? Ruined their reputations?)

I always see people getting verbally or emotionally abused at many settings, (school, work, etc) and I've noticed most of those people just let it go. I can't, but now I'm wondering whether it's probably better to learn to allow people to treat you poorly. On the same token, if I become passive like that, I will know that I will be allowing lots of abuse and things will never change, and something that could have been fixed will remain the way it is.

But in the end, the person who speaks up always takes a risk, always gets labeled a "trouble-maker" or "difficult to deal with", and everybody prefers to simply allow some abuse than get branded a bunch of labels. I guess this is how society operates in most places. I will have to choose whether to report a wrong doing or keeping a neutral reputation for myself. I'm not sure which one I'd rather choose.. what would you rather do?

Thanks for the input.

 

[cmorris]

You can be passive, assertive, or aggressive. Assertive is the way to go. You have to choose your battles wisely. Ask yourself, "Will it matter in 5 years? Ten years?" This is the world we live in; deal with it.

 

[rmet4nzkx]

Sorry if you got confused, but I wasn't replying to your post. I was replying to meganproser's. Right now I'm doing just fine in school, so I don't think I need any adjustments in my medication. This was two years ago, right now my gpa is up again.
And for the tenth time, if I want to bring up the issue with this professor, it is not to complain about an ADA violation, but about his purposeful misrepresentation of my behavior. The title of my thread is "Professor ruined my reputation", not "Professor violated ADA." I only want to address the fact that he had me kicked out of a program by saying I purposely neglected my studies, without ever mentioning that he was aware of the actual reasons of why I could not complete my work. I want to address that he acted in a way detrimental to me and not ethical.

I know you will come back and try to tear this to shreds as well, if it makes you happy.. do as you please. I know this is what this forum is all about, with the exception of some posters, so I guess I'll take it from where it comes.

You acknowledge you don't have a leg to stand on ADA wise, which is your only affirmative defense to your actions. Without that defense, your professor is entitled and in fact ethically obligated to weed you out of the program and did nothing wrong. Other members, giving you a false sense of entitlement does you no good if you move forward with making accusations and likely to interfere with you progress toward your degree.

You failure to comprehend the consequences of your actions both past and present strongly suggests your ADD may not be in control and YOU are not the best judge of your clinical status, please contact your psychiatrist and discuss these issues before taking any action. Perhaps, complaining about it here was therapeutic, but taking unfounded academic action may not be in your best interest. If anything, if you insist on this course of action, wait until you have your degree and your certified transcripts in hand.

 

[Sybil226]

You acknowledge you don't have a leg to stand on ADA wise, which is your only affirmative defense to your actions.

Apparently you feel the need to continue repeating yourself in dozens of different ways. I already read your opinion, you don't need to stress it or plaster it all over the place. I already said I disagree. You need to be grown up to be able to deal with others disagreeing with you. ADA or not ADA, I still have a claim of purposeful misrepresentation. Not necessarily in legal grounds, but on ethical grounds.

Without that defense, your professor is entitled and in fact ethically obligated to weed you out of the program and did nothing wrong.

Ethically obligated? Says who? You? That is, again, your opinion. Try to use the phrase "I think" at the beginning of your statements, because you're no authority in ethics nor the president of the college, to be using that kind of language. Your opinion does not constitute the objective reality. You're merely presenting your own subjective view of the situation, and you should treat it as such.

Other members, giving you a false sense of entitlement does you no good if you move forward with making accusations and likely to interfere with you progress toward your degree.

Giving accomodations to someone who is going through a difficult situation is NOT giving a sense of entitlement? Again, your opinion. You're stating your opinion as if it were an objective fact, which isn't. If it were, educational institutions would have outlawed accomodations for students long ago, while in reality, most faculty at most institutions provide accomodations in a variety of adverse circumstances, not counting disabilities.

You failure to comprehend the consequences of your actions both past and present strongly suggests your ADD may not be in control and YOU are not the best judge of your clinical status,

Do you have a medical degree and a psychiatry specialty? If not, your opinion is worthless and ignorant. Your stating that my disagreement with your opinions is a result of ADD is the most ridiculous thing I've heard in a while. You must have felt very "important" when you wrote that statement. "An authority in ethics, and a medical expert has spoken.." (ROTFLMAO)

YOU are not the best judge of your clinical status, please contact..

You aren't either, and I'm doing just fine. Disagreeing with you is not a symptom of ADD out of control.

...taking unfounded academic action may not be in your best interest. If anything, if you insist on this course of action, wait until you have your degree and your certified transcripts in hand.

"Unfounded" in your opinion. 1 out of 4 professors felt my situation warranted accomodations, which strongly indicates that your point of view is not held by a majority. BTW, interestingly enough, one of the 3 professors who gave me accomodations offered me a letter of recommendation of 'character.' She said she could not provide academic references because she knew that semester was not a good one for me, but that she'd be happy to give me a character reference. And I did not ask for such letter, she offered it when I told her I was applying for an internship. She did not feel ethically obligated to cast me as a neglectful student who slacked off. If everybody were like that, I'm sure the world would be a nasty place for everyone. I guess you're just one of those people..

 

[cmorris]

Anything your professors did that was nice was VOLUNTARY. You are not entitled to it. The prof did not have to give you accomodations, state your side of the story, or tell you the drop date. He presented his opinion, just as you and others are free to do. Some people are nice and try to help people out. That's great. But some people, like your bio prof, do not. There is nothing illegal, unethical, or improper about that. Now, had you registered with the disability office, known when the drop date was, appealed the decision to be kicked out of the honors program in a timely fashion, etc, you wouldn't be in this predicament.

And if you had done your homework, you may realize your college may offer the possibility of "bankrupting" that semester. WHERE IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY?

 

[Sybil226]

I did bankrupt the semester! That was my last resort, and I consulted a counselor who suggested that option. My only concern right now is that I lost the chance to finish an honors curriculum and it was because that professor said I voluntarily neglected my studies, ommitting the fact that I had made an appointment with him to explain why I was doing poorly and to see what I could do about it. He neglected that part and presented a different picture. That is my main point. It will be up to the dean to decide if it was the right way to deal with my situation.
Personally, I think it was malicious. If he believed I should not be in the program, he should have stated the true reasons and told me that my schedule and/or situation did not allow me to stay in the program and to fix it if I wanted to stay. Not to blame it on neglect on my part, since that tarnished my reputation.