Mbawe v. Ferris State Univ.
| Decision Date | 10 January 2018 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 1:16-CV-1189 |
| Parties | John MBAWE, Plaintiff, v. FERRIS STATE UNIVERSITY, et al., Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Western District of Michigan |
Adam Shereef Abu-Akeel, Shereef Hadi Akeel, Akeel & Valentine, PLC, Troy, MI, for Plaintiff.
Michael E. Cavanaugh, Ryan Kenneth Kauffman, Fraser Trebilcock Davis & Dunlap PC, Lansing, MI, for Defendants.
Plaintiff John Mbawe is a former student of Ferris State University's College of Pharmacy ("pharmacy program"). During his third year, he began making paranoid and delusional statements claiming he was being poisoned. A State probate court ultimately entered an order involuntarily committing Plaintiff for mental health treatment. The order was never appealed or vacated. After Plaintiff's commitment, Defendants withdrew Plaintiff from the pharmacy program. Readmission remained a possibility, but Plaintiff did not complete the Michigan Health Professionals Recovery Program ("HPRP"), a non-disciplinary program designed to assist participants recover from substance abuse or mental health problems, as a condition of readmission.
Plaintiff brought this disability discrimination action against Defendants on September 30, 2016, alleging statutory violations under Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act ("ADA"), 42 U.S.C. § 12131, et seq. , and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, 29 U.S.C. § 794, et seq. , as well as constitutional violations under 42 U.S.C. § 1983 for substantive and procedural due process right violations.1 The matter is before the Court on Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment. (ECF No. 61 ). Plaintiff has responded to the motion, and Defendants have replied. (ECF Nos. 69; 77). After careful review of the record, the Court considers oral argument unnecessary to resolve the matter. Plaintiff's claims under the ADA and Rehabilitation Act fail because Plaintiff cannot show he was "otherwise qualified" to continue in the pharmacy program. Plaintiff's Due Process claims fail because his allegations do not amount to a violation of his substantive due process rights and Plaintiff received adequate procedural process. Accordingly, Defendants' Motion for Summary Judgment will be GRANTED.
Plaintiff registered as a student in the pharmacy program in 2010. (ECF No. 1, PageID.4). The program ordinarily consists of three years of academic instruction in a classroom setting, followed by a one-year internship. (Id. ). Plaintiff avers he entered the program on a remedial track that afforded him an additional year within which he could complete his academic instruction. (ECF No. 59, PageID.1417).
When Plaintiff enrolled, he signed a document entitled "Technical Standards for Students Admitted to The Doctor of Pharmacy Degree Program." (ECF Nos. 58-33; 69-1). The document stated that each student in the pharmacy program must be able to demonstrate proficiency in the listed skills, with or without reasonable accommodation, and the pharmacy program reserved the right to dismiss an admitted student who fell out of compliance with the Technical Standards. (Id. ). Furthermore, because of the internship component, the Technical Standards required all students in the pharmacy program to maintain an educational "Pharmacist Intern license" that is issued by the State of Michigan.2 (Id. ). The license is also required by Michigan law. See MICH. COMP. LAWS § 333.17737(2). Plaintiff received his limited educational license on July 14, 2010. (ECF No. 1, PageID.4). The license was suspended in the wake of Plaintiff's involuntary commitment.
Plaintiff struggled in his coursework from the beginning of his time in the program. In fact, when Plaintiff failed to achieve a GPA of 2.0 after his first year, he was academically dismissed from the pharmacy program. Plaintiff successfully appealed his dismissal, however, and he was reinstated with a number of conditions. (Pl.'s Dep. at 9-13, ECF No. 58-2, PageID.990). Plaintiff managed to stay above the GPA threshold through the 2012-2013 academic year, however during the summer of 2013, if not before, Plaintiff began exhibiting a troubling pattern of behavior that Defendants believed demonstrated delusional and paranoid thinking. A state court agreed, and ordered Plaintiff's involuntary commitment after reviewing the recommendation of two independent physicians, as required by Michigan law. After the involuntary commitment, Plaintiff did not gain readmission to the program.
Over the summer of 2013, Plaintiff treated with healthcare professionals at the university's Birkam Health Center ("BHC") for an idiopathic medical condition causing severe abdominal pain. (ECF No. 1, PageID.4). During some of these visits, Plaintiff told BHC health professionals that he believed he was being bullied by a group of people. He thought the group put some sort of liquid on his car and on his left arm, which caused his skin to darken. Plaintiff also thought someone had broken into his apartment and poisoned his food. (ECF No. 1, PageID.5). Plaintiff says he told some of the pharmacy program staff that he was concerned for his own health. (ECF No. 59-26, PageID.1845). Defendants contend this was neither the first time nor the last time Plaintiff demonstrated paranoid behavior.3
Once the fall 2013 semester began, Plaintiff began missing his classes. Plaintiff's instructors thought Plaintiff was confused about his class schedule and course requirements. Plaintiff also told one of his professors he was being injected with drugs while he slept. (ECF No. 58-23, PageID.1195). Reports expressing concern about Plaintiff eventually made their way to the pharmacy program's student services coordinator, Defendant Jeffrey Bates, who says he spoke to Plaintiff about these concerns on several occasions. During these conversations Plaintiff continued to claim he was being injected with needles while he slept. (Id. ). Troubled by these statements, and by the earlier reports, Defendant Bates sent two e-mails, dated September 16 and 18, 2013, to Plaintiff's professors. Defendant Bates wrote that Plaintiff had "some serious health issues going on" and that Defendant Bates had discussed those issues with Plaintiff's physician. (ECF No. 1, PageID.5-6).
Meanwhile, at the beginning of the fall semester Plaintiff learned his brother had passed away. Plaintiff requested a week long excused absence in order to travel home to Africa to attend his brother's funeral, but Plaintiff ultimately decided not to make the trip. (ECF No. 1, PageID.6).
Even though Plaintiff did not make the trip, Defendants argue these plans are important because they link Plaintiff to notes on three scraps of paper found in a university restroom on September 16, 2013. The scraps of paper allegedly contain Plaintiff's hand-written notes and contain remarks about flight plans and statements indicating Plaintiff believed he was in danger and was being injected.4 Specifically the notes state that Plaintiff believed unspecified individuals were sent to "stick" him at night, and that he believed "they are killing me for nothing," and "I know I will die for what they have on my body." The notes also expressed a belief that there were cameras in the Plaintiff's apartment, and that Plaintiff's food was being poisoned. (ECF No. 1, PageID.6; ECF No. 24-1, PageID.257). Plaintiff further pled for someone to rescue him because he knew there were "good people in America." (Id. ).
On September 19, 2013, Plaintiff missed a scheduled appointment with Dr. Susan Davis, his primary care physician at BHC. Defendants have submitted Dr. Davis' note from the canceled visit. In the note, Dr. Davis wrote that Defendant Bates called the doctor to discuss the notes that had been found in the bathroom and Defendant Bates attributed the notes to Plaintiff. Dr. Davis' note states the clinic was attempting to reach Plaintiff, and that the doctor had diagnosed Plaintiff with an altered mental status. (ECF No. 58-16, PageID.1160). Plaintiff was eventually reached later that day and seen at BHC by Nurse Melissa Sprague. Plaintiff told the nurse he had recently lost his brother and was not feeling well. The nurse's treatment note reports that Plaintiff made comments similar to those contained on the slips of paper. Specifically, Plaintiff "claim[ed] that people [were] coming into his apartment and poisoning his food and injecting thinks [sic] into his body." (ECF No. 59-11, PageID.1648). Nurse Sprague's assessment was that Plaintiff had a mental disorder, though she did not find Plaintiff's behavior threatening or bizarre. (Id. ) Plaintiff gave permission for BHC staff to talk to Defendant Bates, and Nurse Cande Price made the call. Despite the statements Plaintiff had made, Ms. Price reported Plaintiff was "rational and is unwilling to see a psychiatrist" and that Plaintiff was not a threat either to himself or to others. (ECF No. 59-11, PageID.1649).
Dr. Davis testified during her deposition that she agreed with Nurse Price that Plaintiff did not pose a threat. (ECF No. 59-14, PageID.1695). Plaintiff argues, however, that his professors were pressuring the doctor and demanding that Plaintiff see the school psychologist. Dr. Davis thus encouraged Plaintiff to see a psychiatrist to prove his professors wrong and take the pressure off her. (ECF No. 59-26, PageID.1845). Plaintiff agreed, and on September 20, 2013, Plaintiff met with Mr. Thomas Liszewski, MA, LLP, LPC, for an assessment.
Plaintiff's presenting problem was described as being "[d]elusional," though the initial intake found Plaintiff was oriented to all spheres. Plaintiff's risk assessment was also "low" and Mr. Liszewski wrote Plaintiff seemed "quite friendly and rational." (ECF No....
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