Friday, December 27, 2013

It's About Darned Time

I have no idea if Mr. Yu is, in general, a sinner or a saint, but I absolutely believe the foundation of his lawsuit:
Yu, a U.S.-educated Chinese citizen, is now going after the Poughkeepsie, New York, school in federal court, claiming not only wrongful expulsion and irreparable personal damage but sex discrimination. His complaint argues that he was the victim of a campus judicial system that in practice presumes males accused of sexual misconduct are guilty. His is one of three such lawsuits filed last summer. St. Joseph's University in Philadelphia is being sued by an expelled student, New York state resident Brian Harris, who likewise claims he was railroaded by a gender-biased campus kangaroo court. And in August college basketball player Dez Wells sued Ohio's Xavier University for expelling him in the summer of 2012 based on a rape charge that the county prosecutor publicly denounced as false.

5 comments:

maxutils said...

This case seems to be ridiculous, and I can't believe that he has any chance of losing. I, personally, experienced a similar thing while in college. While living in the dorms, my roommate drew a cartoon that displayed several different images and, without my prior knowledge, taped it to our door. All of them I found amusing, so I left them. One of them, one female resident found offensive to women (and, to be fair...if you WANTED to take it that way, I guess you could.) The super fun part was that I was disciplined for not taking it off my door ... my roommate was not disciplined at all, because I would not rat him out for drawing it. I faced everything from ranging from a letter of reprimand to expulsion. It was a huge hassle, and I wound up with a letter of reprimand and was forced to lead a dorm meeting on sensitivity training. Fortunately, I had a dorm that was completely cool ... save for the complainant ... and I was able to do it ironically because I have a really good straight face. Still, I have no doubt things like this, be they harassment or assault charges, happen all the time. I absolutely abhor both. But harassment isn't harassment until you have been asked to stop something and don't. And assault, while more difficult to defend as it would tend to be a one time occurrence? If the DA says there is no basis for the charge, then their should be NO penalty...which makes it a false police report. Didn't notice that the woman in this case got charged for that, though. Maybe it wasn't... but let her defend herself in an equivalent case.

Anonymous said...

You do realize that in the state of California a teacher, male or female, who is accused of misconduct of any kind is presumed to be guilty. The district is not required to tell the teacher what they have been accused of so it is difficult to prepare a defense. While tenured teachers are investigated before they are terminated, it is possible for the accused to be terminated without ever being informed of the charges against them. The teachers union, especially in LA, has tried to change this, but California law leaves the unions with few options.

maxutils said...

@anonymous ...no, they aren't.

Anonymous said...

Maxutils, in general a teacher who is accused is removed from the classroom immediately. They may or may not be informed of the charges against them. http://www.bakersfieldcalifornian.com/local/x1029066148/Teachers-challenge-fairness-of-administrative-leave-policies

maxutils said...

@Anonymous... That's true, usually. But, just like taking the 5th, it is not a presumption of guilt. The teacher still receives due process. Probably, most people assume guilt, but what's the alternative? Imagine if you have an accusation of, let's say, child molestation against a 5th grade teacher that is actually true, and you let him/her stay in the classroom while the process drags on, during which time he/she molests another? The liability would be huge. I think the answer is to allow for the falsely accused teacher to be able to sue for damages, including all court costs...