A Mexico-born graduate student who withdrew from her program just three courses short of her degree can pursue due process and First Amendment retaliation claims against the State University of New York at Buffalo, but not claims for national origin and age discrimination and retaliation, a federal judge has ruled.
The decision came in a case filed by Marie Perez who enrolled in fall 2011 in the university’s master’s program in rehabilitation counseling.
The next semester, she encountered conflicts with faculty, students and the group leader in a group counseling course. At the time, she was a 50-year-old full-time rehabilitation specialist, while all the other students in the class and the group leader were in their 20s and 30s, according to the decision. She also was the only student who wasn’t a native English speaker.
Perez claimed she was traumatized by her treatment, including the fact she was told not to attend lab sessions and required to obtain a note from her psychiatrist if she wished to return.
She withdrew from that class rather than receive a failing grade that would jeopardize her scholarship and withdrew from her other classes on the basis of emotional distress, the suit asserted. The university then didn’t let her continue in the program the next semester.
The suit charged the university and faculty members with violations of Title VI, Section 1981 and the New York’s human rights law.
In his decision, Chief U.S. District Judge William Skretny said there were no facts that would allow a jury to reasonably infer that SUNY Buffalo discriminated based on race or national origin in refusing to allow Perez to complete the course. Nor was there a factual basis for her age discrimination allegation.
