Woman sues Douglas College over ‘Mickey Mouse’ course certificate
A former Douglas College student is suing the New Westminster school because she said she was misled into believing an Aboriginal studies program would earn her an official certificate, not the “Mickey Mouse” sheet of paper she received.
Agnes Tong took the college to small claims court in New Westminster alleging breach of contract to force the college to present her with an official certificate or refund her $1,732 tuition plus pay her damages of twice that. The case was heard on Wednesday and will continue today.
“I’m willing to stand up for myself when I see something that’s not right,” said Tong, a defence lawyer who is representing herself in the trial. “It’s worth my time to ask the college to answer to this,” she said. “For me not to say anything, it’s just not me.”
The college in its response to Tong ’s claim denied all allegations and said students in the part-time Aboriginal stream program were given an “informal certificate” at an “informal ceremony” at its end.
“Students are expressly told this informal certificate is not a credential, but is simply recognition from the instructors of the student’s achievements and hard work during the year,” the statement of defence said.
Tong claims that when she applied to take the Aboriginal stream within the Faculty of Child, Family and Community Studies, she was promised a “completion certificate” and wouldn’t have enrolled if she wasn’t going to receive it, she said.
The Aboriginal stream comprises four courses and a practicum taken part-time over eight months. Course credits can be applied to two diplomas and a certificate program. Tong said that red flags went up when after a delay of months she received “a sheet of paper” that listed the courses she took.
“That sheet, it’s so Mickey Mouse coming out of a college,” she said. “It wasn’t an official Douglas College document.”
She was further angered when she noticed the document was “quite wrinkled and it had a small little rip in the corner.
“So much time and effort and money went into that course and the least they could have done was to provide us with a document that isn’t all damaged.”
The college replaced the document but wouldn’t provide what Tong said she and the other 19 students in her 2015-16 school year were promised, an official college certificate.
Tong, a Richmond lawyer and former public prosecutor in Labrador, said the official document would provide her with more credentials to apply for jobs in the child welfare field, where she intends to work.
“I wanted to have that recognition, a document that showed I know about Aboriginal history and residential schools and their effect on Aboriginal people,” she said, adding she was happy with the course.
She filed the claim because the college “refused to correct or address my concerns.”
“I’m not overly confident, but I feel strongly in what I believe,” said Tong.