LAWSUIT Claims UMass Dartmouth Launched ‘Witch Hunt’ Over US Army Veteran’s Disclosed Past Conviction
A new lawsuit against UMass Dartmouth claims a graduate student at the School for Marine Science and Technology was sanctioned and pushed out of his program because he had a previous felony conviction, even though he says he disclosed it when he applied. In the complaint, he identifies himself as a Rhode Island resident and a U.S. Army veteran who served as an Airborne Ranger infantry officer.
The plaintiff claims that when he applied to UMD he disclosed his felony conviction to the director of graduate studies and admissions. He says he asked for confidentiality about his past, received a promise to keep it confidential, and took three classes in September 2015 in preparation for entering the master’s program with plans to pursue a Ph.D. But when other administrators found out he had a felony conviction, he claims the school launched a “bogus misconduct allegation” and “similar witch-hunt sexual misconduct investigation and adjudication” to get him out. He alleges that he was banned from campus for four months, suspended, and forbidden from communicating with anyone associated with UMD. He claims he was not told the factual basis of the charges, and that although he was not found responsible, he was subsequently censored in his engagements with other students, had his workspace moved to a location adjacent to the dean’s office, and was switched to a non-thesis track. The anonymous plaintiff says in court documents that he has a service-connected disability for physical and mental health, and that he was using a Veterans Affairs scholarship.
southcoasttoday– Jennette Barnes
