state-university
What rights do students of public universities have regarding professional misconduct / lack of rule enforcement?
<p>I’ll try to keep the story short, but the university I attend has recently had a tense situation arise between a professor and a student. The professor clearly broke the University’s own rules on conduct and procedure for its staff. The student was uniquely targeted and harassed by the professor, as is clear from all available evidence. </p>

<p>MY chief concern is how the administration acted to remedy the issue. They issued a public email stating they would look into it, and that was it. Sent months ago, they haven’t offered anything else. The professor continues to work for the school. Even more scary, the student faces expulsion from the university because the small group of students that support the professor claim the defendant is a threat to their safety. They’ve also attempted “character assassination” on this student. </p>

<p>The administration hasn’t protected him/her whatsoever. Naturally, I want no part of a university that runs this way. I’ve been in contact with the administration and basically said if they don’t do anything, I want my tuition and fees back, and my records scrubbed from their system. If they fail to do so, I’m threatening a lawsuit. </p>

<p>I feel entitled to my money back because the faculty broke university rules, and the administration did nothing to enforce its own rules. Because of that, my future at the university is liable to the same harassment. Regardless, I’m most likely switching universities, and will absolutely go to court no matter what if the administration fails to act.` </p>

<p>What I’m curious about, is if this kind of case would hold up in court. Threatening a major university is nerve-wracking, but I feel an obligation to stand up for this student (who is undoubtedly innocent of any wrong doing, given the endless evidence).</p>

<p>Edit:
The above was a poor attempt at asking what kind of rights a student has in a public university. And if a student has any rights at all, what is the university liable for if those rights are infringed upon by its own faculty?</p>

<p>There is a grievance procedure whereby a student can file a complain against a professor. (The possibility that there <em>is</em> no procedure is negligible: I can find the document if you name the institution). They may have reviewed the situation and taken whatever action they plan to. The person complaining will receive notice of the outcome, but it is unlikely that the outcome will be made public. Supposing that you are just an interested bystander: your right is to withdraw from the university, write a letter of protest, or continue as usual. You have no special legal privileges in this situation, because you were not directly harmed. You cannot sue a person for making society less livable for you. I cannot sue the university because (as a professor at a presumably different institution) I am only ephemerally harmed by university administrations covering their legal interests rather than punishing the wicked. You have no <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Standing_(law)" rel="noreferrer">standing</a> (technical term) in a lawsuit.</p>

<p>Now suppose you were actually the aggrieved student and the wrong was a wrongful public accusation of plagiarism (defamation). The defamed student can sue the professor. This is true no matter what the result of the internal disciplinary process is – except that the university might cleverly get the student to agree to shut up in exchange for some desirable outcome. </p>
