Doe v. Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
| Decision Date | 20 April 2006 |
| Docket Number | No. 05 C 5189.,05 C 5189. |
| Citation | 429 F.Supp.2d 930 |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
| Parties | John DOE, Plaintiff, v. BOARD OF TRUSTEES OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS, Jennifer Bloom, James Slauch, Kim Schutterle, Leigh Saint-Louis, Bradford Schwartz, Dixie Whitt, Richard Gumport, William Marshall, Douglas Rhone, and Uma Sekar, Defendants. |
Gregory James German, Tepper, Mann & German, PC, Urbana, IL, for Plaintiff.
James C. Kearns, Heyl, Royster, Voelker & Allen, Urbana, IL, for Defendants.
John Doe, a former M.D./Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois, has sued the University, several of its officials, two fellow students, and two clinical faculty employed by the federal Department of Veterans Affairs for violations of his federal and state rights. All of the defendants— except the two employed by the Department of Veterans Affairs—have moved to dismiss all of Doe's claims. For the reasons stated below, the Court grants the motion in part and denies it in part.
From the fall of 1999 through the spring of 2004, plaintiff John Doe was enrolled as a M.D./Ph.D. student at the University of Illinois's Urbana campus. Doe suffers from learning disabilities that affect his visual perception and writing abilities. Nonetheless, he was able to obtain a bachelor's degree in philosophy at a prestigious American university, complete premedical courses at that university and another university, and attain high scores on the MCAT examination. In 1999, the University of Illinois admitted Doe to the College of Medicine's Medical Scholars Program, a program that enables a student to pursue M.D. and Ph.D. degrees simultaneously. Doe planned to obtain an M.D. degree and a Ph.D. in philosophy. Compl. ¶¶ 17-23.
During the 1999-2000 school year, Doe took only philosophy courses, earning As, A-minuses, and one B-plus. During the 2000-2001 school year, Doe took the full set of first year medical courses. He also worked as a teacher's assistant both semesters. Doe failed Histology Lab, Immunology Lab, and Physiology, and he was required to retake the entire first-year medical school curriculum. Id. ¶¶ 24-26, 29.
On October 29, 2001, Doe obtained an extensive evaluation of his learning disabilities at the request of the College of Medicine. Dr. Neil Pliskin, a psychiatrist specializing in neuropsychology, who was employed at the Chicago campus of the College of Medicine, confirmed that Doe had visual perception problems and dysgraphia. Dr. Pliskin recommended that Doe be allowed to take tests orally whenever possible; complete any written assignments, tutorial lessons, and drill-andpractice work on a computer; use adaptive devices designed for those with visual impairments; tape record class lectures; and have extended time to complete assignments and examinations. The College of Medicine extended Doe's examination time but did not implement any of Dr. Pliskin's other recommendations. During the 2001-2002 school year, Doe successfully completed the first-year medical school curriculum, a philosophy independent study, and a philosophy seminar while working as a teaching assistant in the philosophy department. Id. ¶¶ 27-28, 30.
In November 2002, Doe met with James Slauch, the director of the Medical Scholars program, to develop a plan to complete his M.D. and Ph.D. studies successfully. During this meeting, Doe and Slauch agreed that Doe would defer any further work on the Ph.D. until he completed the M.D. At the time, the chairman of the department of philosophy, the director of graduate studies for the department, and Doe's graduate advisor agreed to the plan. Id. ¶¶ 32-33. Doe's complaint does not discuss Doe's academic performance during the 2002-2003 school year.
At a Medical Scholars annual progress conference in May 2003, both Slauch and Jennifer Bloom, the associate dean of students for the College of Medicine's Urbana campus, criticized Doe regarding his progress in the program and disavowed the plan that Slauch and Doe had developed six months earlier. Slauch demanded that Doe attend a meeting to discuss eliminating the plan. Doe subsequently sent a written complaint to Bradford Schwartz the regional dean for the College of Medicine's Urbana campus, regarding Bloom and Slauch's behavior. Doe also sent Bloom and Slauch copies of the complaint. Id. ¶¶ 35-36. Doe's complaint in this action does not state whether he ever had a second meeting with Slauch.
During the fall of 2003, Doe successfully completed the first semester of the secondyear medical school curriculum. In December 2003, he received a letter from Slauch, who stated that Doe would not be allowed to proceed with his M.D. until he completed a language course required for his Ph.D. degree. Doe considered this move unfair: he could have taken the course during the preceding academic year but had declined to do so based on his agreement with Slauch to defer working on his Ph.D. until he had completed his M.D. In January 2004, Doe met with Karen Carney, the dean of the Graduate College, to complain about Slauch's new demands. Carney believed that Doe had a legitimate complaint and encouraged him to resolve the issue informally. As Carney had advised, Doe met with Slauch in February 2004 to discuss his concerns about having to complete his language requirement at that time. According to Doe, Slauch became angry, stating "[y]ou're the one who's being a stickler for the rules!" Id. ¶¶ 37, 39, 41-42.
Doe's problems escalated after the meeting with Slauch. On February 23, 2004, two of Doe's fellow students, Kim Schutterle and Leigh Saint-Louis, spoke to Bloom and portrayed Doe as a "violent, dangerous, and criminal person who posed a threat to patients, faculty, and classmates." Id. ¶ 54. Bloom and Saluch convened a meeting on February 23 with the Office of Student Affairs, the University Student Counseling Center, the Office of Student Discipline, and the University Police Department to discuss Schutterle and Saint-Louis's statements. No one from the University informed Doe about these meetings or the accusations against him. On March 4, Bloom sent a letter to the faculty for Doe's clinical courses, informing them that others had expressed concerns about Doe's "inappropriate and unprofessional behavior" and requesting additional information about any problems they had experienced with Doe. According to Doe, Bloom and Slauch met with several officials at the University in an effort to terminate Doe from the Medical Scholars program by using the statements made by Schutterle and St-Louis. Id. ¶¶ 44-53. Doe states that he did not learn of the statements Schutterle and Saint-Louis were making about him until September 2004.
In May 2004, Doe completed his final examinations and returned home believing that he had done well enough to enter his first round of clinical rotations. Doe returned home because his grandmother was quite ill. While there, he learned that his grade in Clinical Laboratory Sciences required remediation. Doe sought assistance from his instructors in remediating his grade, and he also requested special accommodations due to his grandmother's illness. During this time, Doe states that Bloom never informed him of his right to petition for an exemption from the Introduction to Clinical Clerkships course, a course that is normally a prerequisite for beginning clinical rotations. Id. ¶ 61.
On June 21, 2004, Doe took a remediation examination for Clinical Laboratory Sciences. He scored fifty-six percent, which was four percentage points below the passing grade of sixty percent. At this point, the College of Medicine began a review of Doe's academic status. Three committees comprised of faculty, administrators, staff, and students of the College of Medicine reviewed Doe's progress. The Student Progress and Promotions Committee (SPPC) conducted the initial level of review, the Executive Committee (EXCOM) conducted the second level of review, and the College Committee on Student Promotions (CCSP) conducted the final level of review. Id. ¶¶ 63-64.
According to Doe, Bloom and Slauch wrongfully submitted certain information about him to the committees. Specifically, Doe states that they wrongfully informed the committees about the time accommodations made for his learning disability; they provided false and misleading information about his academic progress; and they shared statements from Schuetterle and Saint-Louis indicating that he was an unprofessional person. According to Doe, Bloom and Slauch, who were ex-officio members of the SPPC, EXCOM, and CCSP, attended the meetings of these committees and convinced them to terminate Doe from the College of Medicine and the Medical Scholars program. Id. ¶¶ 65-79.
During the committees' initial set of meetings, the SPPC and the EXCOM recommended terminating Doe. The exact basis for their recommendations is unclear. Doe, however, noticed that Bloom and Slauch incorrectly informed the committees that Doe did not meet the requirements to retake the remediation exam in Clinical Laboratory Sciences. According to the College of Medicine's policies, a student is entitled to retake a remediation examination if his total grade percentage for all second-year courses is at least six percent higher than the weighted overall percentage passing levels for the second-year courses. Doe recognized that Bloom and Slauch had misadvised the committees, and as a result, his case was sent back from the EXCOM to the SPPC. Id. ¶¶ 81-86.
Following the remand to the SPPC, Doe contends that Bloom and Slauch reemphasized the statements that Doe was a "violent, dangerous, and criminal individual" who needed to be terminated from the medical school. In August 2004, the SPPC and EXCOM recommended Doe's dismissal from the program for a second time. Because of further mistakes in these proceedings, however, Doe's case was sent back...
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