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Case of the Month March 2025

Court Favors University in Graduate Student's Suit for Unlawful Retaliation in Violation of the Rehabilitation Act

Mundy v. Board of Regents for University of Wisconsin System

Case Type:
Education/School - Other
Civil Rights & Constitutional Law - Discrimination
Civil Rights & Constitutional Law - Other Civil Rights

Specific Liability:
Microbiology graduate student asserted that the university deprived her of a coursework master's degree in retaliation for her previously filing a discrimination lawsuit against it in violation of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973

General Injury:
Civil rights violation

Jurisdiction:
State: Wisconsin
United States District Court, W.D. Wisconsin.

Related Court Documents:
Plaintiff's complaint: 2022 WL 22868716
Plaintiff's trial brief: 2024 WL 4150282
Defendant's trial brief: 2024 WL 4150279
Judgment: 2024 WL 4150540

Case Name:
Mundy v. Board of Regents for Univ. of Wisconsin Sys.

Docket/File Number:
3:22CV00561

Result Amount:
Defense

Result Date:
July 23, 2024

Judge:
James D. Peterson

Attorneys:
Plaintiff: Paul A. Kinne, Gingras Thomsen & Wachs LLP, Madison, WI; Isaac Huettl, Madison, WI
Defendant: Joshua L. Kaul, Attorney General, Madison, WI; Rachel L. Bachhuber, Assistant Attorney General, Madison, WI; Katherine Polich, Assistant Attorney General, Madison, WI; Jeffrey A. Simcox, State of Wisconsin Department of Justice, Madison, WI

Result Type:
Bench Trial

Experts:
Plaintiff: Not Reported
Defendant: Not Reported

Breakdown of Award:
$0

Summary of Facts:
Plaintiff Alex Mundy, a research-track student who was pursuing a mater's degree in microbiology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, contended that in September 2020, she filed a discrimination lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin, file number 3:20-CV-00847, against the university, asserting that her advisor and professor, Professor Cameron Currie, had deprived her of her master's research degree in bacteriology because of her disability. The plaintiff said that she suffered from anxiety and Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), and she had been granted reasonable accommodations, which included the ability to work remotely, for her disability.

The plaintiff said that after the district court granted the defendant's motion for summary judgment, the university's Department of Bacteriology and/or Currie refused grant her a coursework master's degree in bacteriology, even though a coursework master's degree had been offered to her during the summer 2020, before the plaintiff filed the discrimination lawsuit.

The plaintiff contended that in June and July 2020, Currie had indicated in email messages to his Department of Bacteriology colleagues that the plaintiff was entitled to a coursework master's degree, which would require Currie to approve the plaintiff's research credits. However, the plaintiff said that she turned down the coursework master's degree offer because she believed that she was entitled to a research master's degree, which the plaintiff contended would have provided her greater professional opportunities than a coursework master's degree.

Shortly after the court entered summary judgment in the defendant's favor regarding her disability discrimination lawsuit and a research degree was ruled out in early 2022, the plaintiff reportedly contacted the Department of Bacteriology, seeking a coursework degree, which had professional value, based upon the department's and/or Currie's previous indications that she was entitled to a coursework degree.

According to the plaintiff, the department and/or Currie refused to grant her the coursework master's degree that they had previously offered and allegedly informed her that she would be required to satisfy additional requirements to obtain the coursework degree, which would cost the plaintiff additional time and money. The plaintiff asserted that she was deprived of her coursework master's degree in retaliation for her previously filing a discrimination lawsuit.

In a complaint filed in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Wisconsin under docket number 3:22-CV-00561, the plaintiff named the Board of Regents for the University of Wisconsin System as a defendant in the lawsuit. The plaintiff asserted that the defendant violated provisions of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973 by retaliating against her through depriving her of educational opportunities after she had filed a complaint for disability discrimination against the university.

The defendant denied liability and asserted that it declined to award the plaintiff a coursework master's degree because she had failed to meet the minimum requirements of earning the degree from the bacteriology program. The defendant asserted that it had no obligation to renew its exploratory and/or equitable offer to convert the plaintiff's research credits to coursework credits approximately two years after she rejected the offer.

The defendant also denied that that the plaintiff was able to prove a but-for causal connection between any protected activity on the plaintiff's part and any alleged adverse action taken against her as required under the Rehabilitation Act. The defendant claimed that at the time it initially considered granting the plaintiff a coursework master's degree, it was unaware of the plaintiff's alleged lack of academic progress in achieving the minimum requirements and/or laboratory work for the bacteriology program. As a result, the defendant contended that the plaintiff was not awarded a coursework master's degree because she failed to earn it.

The matter proceeded to a bench trial. According to the electronic court docket, the court informed the parties during a final pretrial conference that summary judgment filings from the two lawsuits had shown that the plaintiff had engaged in statutorily protected activity when she had previously filed her disability discrimination lawsuit and that the defendant's refusal to award the plaintiff a coursework master's degree in 2022 constituted an adverse action. As a result, court noted that causation would be the only element of the plaintiff's retaliation claim against the defendant considered during the bench trial.

In a judgment in a civil case, the court entered judgment in the defendant's favor against the plaintiff, dismissing the lawsuit.

United States District Court, W.D. Wisconsin.

Westlaw Citation:
2024 WL 4624751