Grad loses in C+ lawsuit against Lehigh University (Story Update)

A Northampton County judge on Thursday rejected the claims of a Lehigh University graduate suing over her C+ grade, a verdict that upheld the school's insistence that she earned the mark she got.

After four days of testimony in a civil trial that captured worldwide attention, Judge Emil Giordano decided that the Bethlehem university neither breached a contract with nor sexually discriminated against Megan Thode, whose lawsuit had sought $1.3 million in damages.

In reaching his conclusions, Giordano said that as a father, he would be unhappy if what happened to Thode at Lehigh had happened to one of his children.

But he said Thode nonetheless failed to prove her grade was based on anything other than "purely academic evaluation" and her professor's conclusion that she "was unprepared to move on to the next level" of her course.

Thode, the daughter of Lehigh finance professor Stephen Thode, was attending the university tuition-free in 2009 when she got the C+ in her master's fieldwork class. She needed a B or higher to take the next course, with her attorney, Richard J. Orloski, arguing that his client's dream of becoming a licensed professional counselor was unfairly scuttled as a result.

http://www.mcall.com/news/local/mc-lehigh-university-student-sues-over-grade-c-20130214,0,3075382.story