Bond v. VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE & STATE UNIV.

• Decision Date: 20 August 1974
• Docket Number: Civ. A. No. 74-C-58-R.
• Citation: 381 F. Supp. 1023
• Parties: Patricia Ryan BOND et al., Plaintiffs, v. VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY, as represented By, T. Marshall Hahn, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Western District of Virginia

381 F. Supp. 1023

Patricia Ryan BOND et al., Plaintiffs, v. VIRGINIA POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTE AND STATE UNIVERSITY, as represented By, T. Marshall Hahn, et al., Defendants.

Civ. A. No. 74-C-58-R.

United States District Court, W. D. Virginia, Roanoke Division.

August 20, 1974.

Robert P. Dwoskin, Charlottesville, Va., for plaintiffs.

Walter H. Ryland, Asst. Atty. Gen., Richmond, Va., and David L. Ross, Gen. Counsel, Blacksburg, Va., for defendants.

OPINION and JUDGMENT

DALTON, District Judge.

Plaintiffs are women graduate and undergraduate students at Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (hereinafter V.P.I). All are participants in V.P.I.'s Student Health Plan. Plaintiffs are suing on behalf of themselves and all others similarly situated and have asked this court to determine whether or not the Student Health Plan has violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment through not including certain services. Specifically, plaintiffs allege that the denial of pap tests and gynecological examinations works as an invidious discrimination based upon the sex of the plaintiffs. Relief sought is in the nature of a preliminary injunction and any further appropriate remedies. Jurisdiction is conferred upon this court under 28 U.S. C. § 1343(3) and (4) and 42 U.S.C. § 1983.

The named defendant, the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, is a state-financed institute of higher education. (See Code of Va., 1950, § 23-136). The suit is directed against V.P.I. as represented by four named officials: T. Marshall Hahn, President; William Lavery, Executive Vice President; James Dean, Vice President of Student Services; and Charles Shiffert, physician and a director of the Department of Student Services.

Plaintiffs have alleged that they requested pap tests and gynecological examinations as part of the Student Health Plan and that their requests were denied by the named officials because the Plan did not include such "specialty services". The Student Health Plan is financed primarily through student fees which provide for out-patient department visits, most medication for acute illnesses, some laboratory and x-ray procedures and admission to the in-patient department. While the Health Plan provides medical services to deal with minor illnesses and emergencies, it does not provide "specialty services including the prescription of contraceptive devices or drugs."

The defendants have filed a motion to dismiss giving several...