Legal disputes around higher education are becoming common and law faculties are not exempt — as a row between a university lecturer and a former student graphically illustrates.
In a preliminary issues hearing at the Royal Courts of Justice in London last month, Aidan Eardley KC, a deputy High Court judge, set out the details of a row between the two unnamed litigants.
The male law lecturer has alleged that a female former student defamed him in a dispute over his decision to award her a lower second-class degree.
The student revealed that in 2020 she fell short of an upper second by just two points and alleged in correspondence with senior figures at the unnamed university that the lecturer and programme leader penalised her for having “refused to engage in sexual acts/conduct” with him.
In appeal of her law degree marks the woman claimed the lecturer had “warned” her that if she refused to engage in a sexual relationship with him he would “reduce my grades/marks” and that she would “not be able to challenge his academic judgment”.
The woman went on to tell the authorities that “engaging in a sexual relationship is contrary to my religious beliefs” and that the incident “caused me upset and distress such as to require private counselling”.
And the woman added that after she refused to “go as far as required” with the lecturer “my marks and grades were reduced unfairly… ”.
The lecturer denies any wrongdoing. In a ruling that allowed the claim to proceed to a full trial, the judge explained that the academic had sued on the grounds that his former student’s comments defamed him and caused serious harm to his reputation.
In his ruling the judge agreed that the statements were defamatory and that the student should defend her remarks at trial with a “tight timetable”, considering that the case so far had suffered from being about five years “in the doldrums”.
The dispute between the lecturer and his former student is a vivid example of the rise in litigation at universities, with issues ranging from suicides to value for money.
Last week lawyers confirmed that officials at University College London had reached a settlement with graduates and students who had sued over claims that teaching quality significantly declined during the coronavirus pandemic and teacher strikes.
Officials at University College London reached a settlement with graduates and students who sued over claims that teaching quality declined during the pandemic and teacher strikes
While that university has settled, Asserson, the firm acting for the so-called student group claim, said that up to 170,000 students at other universities were continuing to seek financial compensation.
The core argument, according to the lawyers, is that during the pandemic and the strikes students did not receive the in-person teaching and access to university facilities, such as libraries and studios, that they had paid for in tuition fees.
Asserson confirmed that 36 other universities had received pre-action letters warning of potential litigation, including Bristol, Cardiff, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, King’s College London and the LSE.
The firm said no proceedings had yet been issued and those that had responded to the letters had denied liability.
