https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/13/politics/sidwell-friends-supreme-court/index.html
Is there another thread about this? Interested to hear what is thought about this
Here seem to be more documents relevant to the case:
http://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2019/images/06/13/20190423135437781_adetu.petition.e.file.apr.23.2019.pdf
https://www.supremecourt.gov/DocketPDF/18/18-1356/97268/20190423135448437_Adetu%20Appendix%20E%20File%20Apr%2023%202019.pdf
Looks like the claim is that the student was subjected to unfair and/or incorrect grading in math courses and subsequent retaliation (in regrading and in recommendations/reports sent to colleges) for complaining about it.
Is this what has started the whole Sidwell ruckus (for lack of a better word)? The one discussed in Parents gone wild thread. http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/2146113-parents-gone-wild-p1.html
No, that is a separate ruckus. This student is already out of college, it was several years ago
The student in this thread graduated from Sidwell Friends in 2014, apparently took a gap year after being shut out and got admitted to a college in 2015. Student should be just graduating college around now if she started college in 2015, stayed on schedule for 8 semester graduation, and did not take any gap semesters, co-ops, etc…
The first article said she graduated from UPenn last month. It’s going to be hard to show damage, even if they managed to find evidence beyond speculation.
It seems strange to me that math was the subject chosen to ‘discriminate against’ Dayo in. Math is math. There is a right and a wrong answer. The test score is a 95 or an 85 or a 68 (as it seemed to be on many of her tests). It’s not like English where the opinion of the person grading the paper has more influence.
Wouldn’t most kids be rejected by the schools she applied to? They don’t explain why she didn’t apply to more realistic schools.
They also don’t mention her test scores.
This whole case is just weird. Doesn’t everyone have at least one unfair/not great teacher at some point along the way? And she’s graduating from Penn, so maybe what she did during that gap year made a big difference?
When a student is expected to show his/her work on a math problem, there could be subjectivity in grading whether the shown work is sufficient to get full credit (if the answer is correct) or partial credit (if the answer is not correct). Note: not saying whether this plaintiff claim is true.
Another plaintiff claim is that the student earned a 93.something% in a calculus AB course, but was given an A-, even though 93% was the threshold for an A grade, which was the prerequisite for being able to take calculus BC.
She was rejected by McGill? They admit by stats only! I wonder what was her GPA and test scores.
Original list of colleges applied to was 10 super-selective private schools (6 Ivy League schools, Duke, JHU, MIT, Caltech), UVA, McGill, and Spelman. She got shut out of this list.
The post-gap-year second list was not mentioned, except that Penn had to have been one of them, since she attended and graduated from there.
Thanks for the link to the case briefing filed. That is very helpful in understanding this case! I am no lawyer, and therefore cant really speak to the legality of these measures, but in reading the filing several distinct opinions came up for me. I found myself hoping the court overturns the decision and rules for Adetu. She was obviously a very bright and talented student if she graduated from Penn.
- How can you say there cant be damages for emotional distress from a breech of contract in contract law... Any contract I have been in, that has been broken without tacit approval from me, has indeed caused me emotional distress. Emotional distress certainly can and does cause bodily harm though it may not be readily apparent like a broken arm say.
- Its very suspicious that the school rated her one way for top schools and another way for a top black school, that to me, implies racial bias. The Guidance councilor should have asked for Adetu's permission before describing her race and ethnicity (Nigerian) in her recommendations no matter what her essay was about... in doing this, I do think she meant to imply a racial bias. There was just no reason for describing her race as it relates to her academic record.
- Its ridiculous that Adetu couldn't challenge whether the costs were fair or not especially if the family doesnt have the ability to pay for costs.
The complaint does not say what her GPA and SATs were. It does say the SST was marked most difficult courseload but only good or very good on the academic performance. Hard to piece together, but it seems the school may have argued she was shut out other than WL at UVA and Spelman, and that her Spelman app may have been late.
The complaint implies the school did not advocate for her with the Ivy’s. And that her parents filed complaints for her older sister as well, which is why they are saying retaliation.
It also alleges they tried harder to get her into Spelman than the other schools.
Finally, it says the counselors letter refers to her parents as Nigerian, which is true, but they said implied she was not an American entitled to affirmative action consideration. (Weak argument since the app would clearly ID her as a US citizen identifying as AA).
As for the math tests, the teacher no longer has the test copies, so there is no longer any evidence, which they say should be considered against the teacher who destroyed it. Also, it claims the teacher gave several tests a 68% and when they complained, the teacher fabricated a test grade of 79% for a test she never took. And the teacher did not follow her original grading policy as to weighting of tests, quizzes, assignments.
Frankly, sounds like the parents were a PITA and the school hated them. Good lesson there. To get a hearty and unconditional recommendation, you don’t want to make them cringe every time they see your name!
McGill only looks at grades and test scores. If she received a C in a prerequisite math course, for example, it would be an automatic rejection.
“Doesn’t everyone have at least one unfair/not great teacher at some point along the way?”
I think this is true. I certainly had a professor that gave me a low grade that didn’t make sense. I suspect that everyone did at some point.
We have to move on with our lives.
Renewed sympathy for Sidwell employees with each passing day. Now students want to litigate their grades and comments? Ugh.
SCOTUS won’t touch it as the case deals with local DC law(s). (Yes, Since DC is not a ‘state’, all its laws are technically ‘federal’ laws, but still, this is a local issue and the Supremes will have no reason/interest to pick it up, particularly since the school won a summary judgment – there is no there, there.)
@runswimyoga the laws about damages for emotional distress often require that there be a physical injury as well before ED can be awarded.
Disagree. To me, this implies Sidwell is gaming the SSRs, and ranking the student in comparison to other applicants to the respective college (as opposed to one ranking per the whole graduating class).
The DC court ruled under summary judgement, so in its view, there was not broken contract.
Ability to pay is not a factor on whether the legal fees incurred are reasonable. If the Adetu’s cannot afford to reimburse for the fees, they can work out a payment plan or declare bankruptcy.