A professor at ConnecticutFairfield University is suing one of her students because they complained to the school administration about poor performance. China Post Report. Teacher Sharlene McEvoy also sued the school, accusing her of slandering her on the side of student complaints.
McEvoy’s filed a lawsuit in the High Court and sought two things: to prevent the university from changing the student’s grades and the amount of compensation, which has not been specified. She was represented in court by lawyer Daniel H. Kryzanski of Stratford, Connecticut.
The specific circumstances of failing are complex and related to the distance learning environment imposed on students by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Joseph Moran students in New Jersey participated in McEvoy’s business legal environment course in early 2020.
Due to the need for remote teaching settings in spring, the final exam for the class must be completed remotely and shipped to McEvoy using USPS. This test accounts for 100% of the student’s final grade.
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McEvoy provided each student with a prepaid envelope and paid for the shipment tracking fee. The lawsuit states that the exam will be mailed to the professor’s home before June 12, 2020. Moran mailed his test on June 8, but was unable to follow up. Therefore, when it arrived at McEvoy’s home on June 16, it failed.
After that, Moran contacted the head of McEvoy’s department and lodged a complaint. The lawsuit alleges that this violates Fairfield University’s “Student Academic Appeal Procedure”, which partly stipulates that if a student has a complaint, the student must first try to “resolve any academic complaint with the member in question…”
McEvoy finally agreed to re-grade the paper and give it a C penalty. Moran continued to appeal the new grades. After an appeal hearing in May, the Provost of Fairfield University stated that the professor viewed the exam in a “biased” manner and called for the grade to be changed to “pass.”
“The defendant Moran’s statement, he was right [McEvoy’s] Regrading his paper in an unbiased manner is defamatory because he believed that she would grade his paper because he filed a complaint with the Fairfield government,” the professor’s lawsuit stated.
Fairfield University lawyers tried to dismiss the lawsuit, claiming that McEvoy failed to use all the options available to her to resolve the situation after she did not attend the appeal hearing. Kryzanski argued that his client was not allowed to attend the hearing.
Weekly newspaper The lawyers of both parties were contacted for comments. This story will be updated with any response.
