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January 28, 2015 at 2:45 PM, updated January 28, 2015 at 3:07 PMReddit
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Case Western Reserve University can deny a medical degree if it determines a student lacks "professionalism," a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.
The university has said it will revoke the degree it had to award to Amir Al-Dabagh following a ruling last summer by U.S. District Judge James Gwin.
Al-Dabagh is currently a dermatology resident at Riverside Hospital in Columbus.
CWRU is within its rights to make an academic judgment about a student and its Committee on Students -- nine senior faculty members who review "the total performance" of all students -- was correct in denying the degree, according to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
See the ruling below.
"We are grateful that the appellate court recognized that universities are uniquely qualified to make academic judgments," the university said in a release. "In particular, we appreciate that the judges made clear that assessments of a student's professionalism are part of that academic judgment, and merit the highest deference."
Al-Dabagh's attorney has been contacted for a comment.
Ohio treats the relationship between a university and its students as contractual in nature and CWRU's student handbook, which supply's the contract terms, "makes it clear that the only thing standing between Al-Dabagh and a diploma is the Committee on Students finding that he lacks professionalism," wrote Judge Jeffrey Sutton in the ruling. "Unhappily for Al-Dabagh, that is an academic judgment. And we can no more substitute our personal views for the Committee's when it comes to an academic judgment than the Committee can substitute its views for ours when it comes to a judicial decision."
Judges Alice Batchelder and Deborah Cook concurred in the ruling.
Al-Dabagh, who successfully completed all requirements to become a doctor and had been accepted for the Columbus residency, was told on April 18, 2014, weeks before graduation, that CWRU was expelling him because of character matters that came up during his years in college.
The action occurred after the university learned Al-Dabagh had been convicted of a misdemeanor DUI in early April. CWRU said if Al-Dabagh did not withdraw from the school by May 19 he would be dismissed.
Al-Dabagh sought a permanent injunction in district court, claiming CWRU breached its contract. He had paid $150,000 for his medical education, satisfied all academic requirements. His lawyers also argued that nothing in the student handbook or other documents supported CWRU's reasoning for dismissing him.
During his five years of medical training, CWRU's Committee on Students had disciplined Al-Dabagh for trying to cover three late attendances; for rude behavior at a 2012 dance; for trying to skirt a cab fare by jumping out of the moving car; for complaints from a patient's family; and for giving patient case summaries where he might not have personally examined the patient.
"While Case should receive great discretion in judging academic standards, the determination of 'professionalism' goes well beyond academic or patient related matters," Gwin wrote in granting a permanent injunction on June 2. "Although courts should give almost complete deference to university judgments regarding academic issues, the same deference does not follow university character judgments, especially on character judgments only distantly related to medical education."
The appeals court disagreed.
"He (Al-Dabagh) invites us to decide for ourselves whether he behaved in a sufficiently professional way to merit a degree," the ruling said. "That, as we have made clear, goes beyond our job description. It was neither arbitrary nor capricious for the Committee to credit other accounts above Al-Dabagh's. And if a dismissal from medical school for poor hygiene and untimeliness falls within the realm of reason (citing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling), it should go without saying that Al-Dabagh's dismissal falls within the realm of reason too."
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/0...
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Case Western Reserve University can deny a medical degree if it determines a student lacks "professionalism," a federal appeals court ruled Wednesday.
The university has said it will revoke the degree it had to award to Amir Al-Dabagh following a ruling last summer by U.S. District Judge James Gwin.
Al-Dabagh is currently a dermatology resident at Riverside Hospital in Columbus.
CWRU is within its rights to make an academic judgment about a student and its Committee on Students -- nine senior faculty members who review "the total performance" of all students -- was correct in denying the degree, according to the U.S. Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals.
See the ruling below.
"We are grateful that the appellate court recognized that universities are uniquely qualified to make academic judgments," the university said in a release. "In particular, we appreciate that the judges made clear that assessments of a student's professionalism are part of that academic judgment, and merit the highest deference."
Al-Dabagh's attorney has been contacted for a comment.
Ohio treats the relationship between a university and its students as contractual in nature and CWRU's student handbook, which supply's the contract terms, "makes it clear that the only thing standing between Al-Dabagh and a diploma is the Committee on Students finding that he lacks professionalism," wrote Judge Jeffrey Sutton in the ruling. "Unhappily for Al-Dabagh, that is an academic judgment. And we can no more substitute our personal views for the Committee's when it comes to an academic judgment than the Committee can substitute its views for ours when it comes to a judicial decision."
Judges Alice Batchelder and Deborah Cook concurred in the ruling.
Al-Dabagh, who successfully completed all requirements to become a doctor and had been accepted for the Columbus residency, was told on April 18, 2014, weeks before graduation, that CWRU was expelling him because of character matters that came up during his years in college.
The action occurred after the university learned Al-Dabagh had been convicted of a misdemeanor DUI in early April. CWRU said if Al-Dabagh did not withdraw from the school by May 19 he would be dismissed.
Al-Dabagh sought a permanent injunction in district court, claiming CWRU breached its contract. He had paid $150,000 for his medical education, satisfied all academic requirements. His lawyers also argued that nothing in the student handbook or other documents supported CWRU's reasoning for dismissing him.
During his five years of medical training, CWRU's Committee on Students had disciplined Al-Dabagh for trying to cover three late attendances; for rude behavior at a 2012 dance; for trying to skirt a cab fare by jumping out of the moving car; for complaints from a patient's family; and for giving patient case summaries where he might not have personally examined the patient.
"While Case should receive great discretion in judging academic standards, the determination of 'professionalism' goes well beyond academic or patient related matters," Gwin wrote in granting a permanent injunction on June 2. "Although courts should give almost complete deference to university judgments regarding academic issues, the same deference does not follow university character judgments, especially on character judgments only distantly related to medical education."
The appeals court disagreed.
"He (Al-Dabagh) invites us to decide for ourselves whether he behaved in a sufficiently professional way to merit a degree," the ruling said. "That, as we have made clear, goes beyond our job description. It was neither arbitrary nor capricious for the Committee to credit other accounts above Al-Dabagh's. And if a dismissal from medical school for poor hygiene and untimeliness falls within the realm of reason (citing a U.S. Supreme Court ruling), it should go without saying that Al-Dabagh's dismissal falls within the realm of reason too."
http://www.cleveland.com/metro/index.ssf/2015/0...
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