So I’m skipping through a certain local big name paper yesterday, waiting to catch a ride home. I find an article about a career college I attended last year, and a student who was dissatisfied with the program he was taking and ended up getting expelled. This student decided to sue the school. He won the court case, but I’ve got to wonder why. He was expelled for badmouthing the school in front of perspective students, saying the school was a waste of money and they’d be better off going somewhere else. The school informed him that they had a zero tolerance policy when it came to this sort of thing. His laywer argued that it should be in the contract or be told to the students beforehand, but really, this isn’t high school. Students at the school are 18+ making them all adults, which should (big emphasis on “should”) have some common sense.
Slander like this is not put up with in any situation. Had he been working and made comments like that to potential customers, he would have been fired on the spot. I know that I myself have nothing bad to say about the school. My time there was great, they did expect a lot of work, but because of that I was able to get a good job in my chosen field right away. The student was in the wrong, it’s just too bad that the judicial system saw differently. —Griped Grad</b
This article appears in Mar 4-10, 2010.
The student was dissatisfied with a service he was paying for; it is certainly his right to express that dissatisfaction. Many consumers complain in public forums about the poor service/product they receive from businesses (for example the restaurant reviews on this site); I don’t see how this situation differs from any of those.
@ OP Your analogy is totally skewed. “If he had been working…”, the major difference is, he’s paying to attend, he’s paying for a service. He’s not working at a job where they give money to him. He has cause to complain if he doesn’t like it.
That said, the college should be able to drop any students for whatever reason, however if it wasn’t specifically outlined in a policy, or agreement the student also has grounds to sue.
I’m with the above comments here.
It is painfully obvious why this is different from being fired from a job as Bastard Fish outlined. I hate to play the freedom of speech card but I hope I would have done the same in his case — he was treated poorly when he raised concerns and ignored by administration, there was nothing in the school contract about discipline for badmouthing the school, and when he got fired they didn’t refund his tuition. What would you do? Suck it up and accept that you lost a year of your life and thousands of dollars for speaking up about being treated poorly? to chastise HIM for not having common sense…you’re an idiot, honestly.
the person involved probly didn’t get fucked by one of the teaching staff, or they were just being them, an asshole.
Is this “Eastern College,” formerly “CompuCollege,” by any chance? If so, I’ve heard some horror stories about them from several people. No wonder they had to change their name.
OKAY—Here is some cautionary advice for anyone who cares to read it:
Be very, very careful before taking courses at certain “private colleges.” These are businesses, first and foremost. You are treated as a “customer” rather than a serious “scholar.”
Private career academies are not the same as public vocational schools, colleges and universities. There is often very little accountability beyond “delivering” the program. (And even this is sometimes questionable.)
Be careful of where you spend your precious education dollars, and what rights and services you are getting in return.
I’m not saying that all of the private career colleges are bad, but make sure you do extensive comparisons before signing contracts or handing over thousands of dollars.
The OBer must have skipped the part of the article where the judge’s decision is explained.