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Pa. grad student sues, says C-plus cost her $1.3M
Xfinity ^ | 2/14/13

Posted on 03/10/2013 2:43:48 PM PDT by Wanderer99

EASTON, Pa. — Talk about grade inflation.

Graduate student Megan Thode wasn't happy about the C-plus she received for one class, saying the mediocre grade kept her from getting her desired degree and becoming a licensed therapist — and, as a result, cost her $1.3 million in lost earnings.

Now Thode is suing her professor and Lehigh University in Bethlehem, claiming monetary damages and seeking a grade change.

A judge is hearing testimony in the case this week in Northampton County Court. Lehigh and the professor contend her lawsuit is without merit. Northampton County Judge Emil Giordano declined to dismiss the suit Wednesday, ruling that there was enough evidence for the suit to proceed, according to The (Easton) Express-Times ( http://bit.ly/Ye2Aj1).

Thode took the class in the fall of 2009. Her instructor, Amanda Eckhardt, testified this week that she stood by the grade, saying Thode failed to behave professionally and thus earned zero out of 25 points in class participation, bumping her down a full letter grade.

"I ... believed she received the grade she earned," Eckhardt said.

The C-plus prevented Thode, an otherwise A student, from going on to the next class and advancing in her professional therapist studies, the newspaper reported. She wound up getting a master's degree in human development instead.

Her attorney, Richard Orloski, argued that Eckhardt targeted Thode because she is an outspoken advocate for gay marriage.

Eckhardt testified that while she believes marriage is between a man and a woman, she would never allow her personal views to influence her treatment of students. She said Thode had outbursts in class, did not participate appropriately, was emotionally unstable and failed to heed a warning letter.

Stephen Thode, the plaintiff's father and a longtime finance professor at Lehigh, testified on his daughter's behalf and said her participation score was highly irregular.

"I have never heard of a case, not just at Lehigh, where a student achieved a zero in class participation where they attended and participated in every class," he said.

Giordano is presiding over the nonjury trial and is expected to rule on Thode's lawsuit after testimony concludes.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events; US: Pennsylvania
KEYWORDS: gay; grad; student; sue
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To: Sherman Logan
So, basically I and to a lesser extent a girl in class, proceeded to politely disassemble every one of his arguments for a week. Not hard, since he really knew nothing about the Bible or Christianity. Next Monday class format shifted to lecture. 2nd quarter grade, with 100s still on every test, C-.

This is why I'm a big fan of the SAT. Adcomms can never know when a high school kid got a bad grade due to having an idiot teacher.
21 posted on 03/10/2013 5:18:40 PM PDT by Wanderer99
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To: CaspersGh0sts

If se makes more money she will have to pay them.


22 posted on 03/10/2013 5:23:59 PM PDT by morphing libertarian
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To: SC DOC
I protested to no avail at the time but this cost my undergraduate school millions in alumni donations that I chose to give to my medical school instead.


23 posted on 03/10/2013 5:24:51 PM PDT by Wanderer99
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To: Wanderer99
Oh boy where do we even start with this?

At Liberal Mindset Rule #1:

"It's always someone else's fault."

24 posted on 03/10/2013 6:29:04 PM PDT by Bloody Sam Roberts (Here once the embattled farmers stood... And fired the shot heard round the world.)
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To: Wanderer99
Updated: A Pennsylvania judge was clearly not happy about his role in a Lehigh University graduate's $1.3 million suit over a C+ grade in a fieldwork class for her master's degree in counseling.

He questioned whether he even had the equitable power to order the university to award the B grade plaintiff Megan Thode needed to continue in the program, Northampton County Judge Emil Giordano said during trial Wednesday that he is "unconvinced that the judiciary should be injecting itself in the academic process," the Allentown Morning Call reported.

25 posted on 03/10/2013 7:40:56 PM PDT by Robert DeLong (u)
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To: hummingbird
Probably still shouting "AUF DEUTSCHE" and serving in Obama administration.

If she is serving in the Obama administration, she is probably shouting "JUDEN RAUS!"

26 posted on 03/10/2013 9:08:25 PM PDT by 17th Miss Regt
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To: Wanderer99

What’s the statute of limitations?

I got my first C- is second grade. It cause emotional distress cause I’d only gotten A’s and B’s before. I demand compensation.


27 posted on 03/11/2013 11:02:45 PM PDT by Impy (All in favor of Harry Reid meeting Mr. Mayhem?)
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To: Wanderer99

I’ve had a lot of different jobs in my life, in several different fields. Not once, ever, ever did anyone in a job interview ask me what my grades were.

Maybe human resources requested transcripts.


28 posted on 03/11/2013 11:16:47 PM PDT by Daffynition (The essential American soul is hard, isolate, stoic, and a killer. It has never yet melted. — D.H.)
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