Dismissed Dental Student Wins $1.72M Verdict Against Professors
A former dental student at the University of Michigan who was dismissed after her third year due to claimed academic deficiencies has won a $1.72 million verdict from four faculty members there.
After a 14-day trial, a federal court jury found earlier this month that the four violated the due process rights of Alissa Zwick, reports the Associated Press. The $1.72 million award includes a $1 million punitive damages award and $500,000 for emotional distress, according to the news agency.
The four defendants–Dr. Marilyn Lantz, an associate dean, and Drs. Bill Piskorowski, Mark Snyder and Fred Burgett–say in post-trial motions that U.S. District Judge Marianne Battani allowed “irrelevant and unfairly prejudicial” evidence to be considered by the jury, concerning other students’ grades, the news agency reports.
They contend that Zwick was dismissed from the school in 2005 because she did poorly in clinical classes and wasn’t fit to work as a dentist; she contends her dismissal was motivated by a faculty feud.
“I understood the case,” says attorney Deborah Gordon, who represents Zwick. “The judge got it after reading the briefs, and the jury got it. … To take a ‘B’ student and come into court and suggest she was so deficient she could not become a dentist is absurd.”
Zwick, 30, is now studying at Eastern Michigan University for a master’s degree in speech pathology.
