Comments on: “‘C+’ in Chemistry Leads To Lawsuit Against School District”

By: Carol Herman

Carol Herman — Sun, 29 Jul 2012 03:22:39 +0000

First of all the “absence” was approved by the school because the student attended his younger sister’s adoption (in a courtroom).

By this student’s junior year the student transfered to another high school. And, gained all A grades.

There are peculiar circumstances spelled out in this lawsuit. And, it also seems the school district no longer has this chemistry teacher teaching anymore.

And, lots of cases, when lawyers begin to see the costs adding up, get settled. Even if the first offer is low ball and stupid.

While you may expect a jury trial, I actually expect a settlement.

By: asg

asg — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 22:54:15 +0000

The comments on the original article suggest that this is not the first time this teacher has acted maliciously against a student.

By: Ron Miller

Ron Miller — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 14:27:26 +0000

Not in and of itself, Richard. But maybe that C+ threw him over the edge and maybe the teacher is just stone nuts. I just don’t know.

I can tell you I would not be filing this lawsuit on behalf of my kids because, while they are young, we are already explaining to them that you are going to get screwed sometimes and what you need to do is “don’t get mad, don’t get even, get better.” (Irony of ironies: I stole this from Joe Paterno’s father) But should this kid be allowed to do it? I vote yes (at least I think I vote yes).

By: Richard Nieporent

Richard Nieporent — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 05:05:35 +0000

Of course grades are important aaaa, but they are not the only thing upon which admissions is based. A single C+ (which is now a B) would not prevent a student from getting into UCLA. No school, including Harvard, Yale and Princeton, requires that every student have a 4.0 GPA (and every student with a 4.0 GPA does not get admitted to those schools). If he only got one B (which of course was not the case) it would lower his GPA to 3.975 (quelle horreur)! And if he actually got some A+s, as his lawyer is demanding he get for this course, his GPA would be over 4.0.

On a side note, I am amused by all of the people who seem to support this lawsuit because they once had a teacher who was unfair to them. There are times when a lawsuit is necessary to right a wrong; however this is not one of those times. If you cannot put events into perspective and realize what is really important and what isn’t, you are going to go through life fighting with a lot of people.

By: Jim Collins

Jim Collins — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 21:50:10 +0000

Maybe I should consider a lawsuit against the college that I attended. English Lit teacher told me first day of class that I could get nothing higher than a -C because I was a Vet and he didn’t support the US going into Iraq in 2003.

Nahhh having to run into him again just isn’t worth it.

The thing is that I support this lawsuit. School Administrations have become too powerful. Too many times they get away with things like this, because they have no oversight. School boards tend to take the side of the Administration, leaving no recourse. In my opinion that is one of the things that a Court is for. The lawsuit is just the vehicle used to involve the Court.

By: aaaa

aaaa — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 19:08:21 +0000

@Richard Nieporent No, just because it is written there is not necessary true. However, just because it is there does not make it a lie.

Both points are very concrete in terms of what happened and when it happened. Actually, those points are the two factual things in that article. If they are true, then the teacher was very unfair. Are you trying to say that teachers like this does not exist? Because I met some.

You just cited mandatory public relations lawyer talk to make the boy sound as entitled as possible and basically assumed that all concrete accusations are lie. It is not popularity contest, he can be the most entitled jerk in the world and still be right.

Yes, Ivy tend to take into account all kind of nonsense. However, grades are still very important in that decision.

By: PLM

PLM — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 18:21:46 +0000

I’m retired now, but when I was a law professor I used to hope that the courts would decide they had jurisdiction in this sort of case–that is, to determine what the grade of a student should be. If the courts did determine that they had jurisdiction, I would file a declaratory relief action every semester attaching all of my exams so that the court could decide what the proper grades would be. Law professors (unlike most other college professors) read their own exams and it is well nigh universal that it is the most tedious part of the job.

I realize that a teacher can give bad grades, sometimes because of incompetence and occasionally because of bad motives, but I don’t think the remedy lies in the court system.

I should add that in California, at least, the courts have universally rejected such suits, claiming lack of jurisdiction.

By: Ron Miller

Ron Miller — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 17:36:58 +0000

Richard, we are assuming for the sake of argument the lawsuit is correct. Otherwise, what is the point of talking about it? We can’t determine the facts in the case.

Assuming the facts are true, the questions are, as usual: (1) is this a viable lawsuit?, and (2) if so, should it have been filed. My answers are yes and I don’t know.

By: RT

RT — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 17:20:53 +0000

I can sympathize with the student. In college one course I finished with an overall average of 95, and scored perfect on the final exam, but was still given a B by the instructor. He didn’t like the fact that I hung around with the “wrong people” at the school. His claim was that he only gave an A to the top finishing student in that class (who in this case had a 98 average). I know that this was not the case as previous students that I spoke to all confirmed that they received A’s despite being in the class all at the same time.

I didn’t sue him though.

By: Mike

Mike — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 16:04:01 +0000

My (very smart) friend wanted to be a dentist, often told me he had to get straight A’s to get into dental school. He got straight A’s and STILL wasnt accepted by any dental school in CA. Had to go out of state.

So one bad grade could be a big deal, but this lawsuit is the worst kind of joke. I suspect the “facts” in the complaint are fiction.