Student sues Oxford over her ‘loss of earnings’ after graduating a year late
Law graduate claims university failed to give her support during battle with mental health problems
A LAW graduate is suing Oxford University for loss of earnings after completing her degree a year late, as experts report a surge in lawsuits from a generation of students who are “aware” of their rights.
Catherine Dance, 24, claims she suffered from mental health problems and was forced to take a year-long break from her law degree because staff at Jesus College refused to allow special arrangements for her exams.
She is suing the college for psychological harm and loss of earnings, claiming that she sacrificed a year’s potential salary after graduating.
It comes as lawyers report a surge in cases from students who have accused their tutors of discriminating against them for having a mental illness.
Several other elite universities are embroiled in legal battles, with dozens of mentally ill students having sued in recent years.
Miss Dance, who was diagnosed with chronic anxiety and depression in 2009, was allowed to sit her A-levels in a private room and with a laptop. But Jesus College would not permit the same treatment, she claims. She said that Oxford University’s approach to her mental health issues was “awful”, adding: “It meant I was one year out of a graduate job, plus the extra emotional damage and psychological harm.”
Jesus College denies the allegations, saying it did allow “appropriate adjustments” for Miss Dance’s condition.
It says that the main purpose of exams is to prepare students for their finals, and since they would not be allowed to use a laptop, the college felt it should adopt the same policy.
The college added that it made a successful application to the university for Miss Dance to sit her final exams with “adjustments”, and she was able to complete her degree earlier this month.
Another student embroiled in a legal battle with her Oxford college is Sophie Spector, 26, who claims she was forced out after being denied extra time to prepare for exams.
Miss Spector, who won a place to study politics, philosophy and economics at Balliol College, alleges that staff there “pressurised” her to go on medical leave due to her disabilities which included dyslexia, ADHD, and OCD.
After joining Balliol College in 2012 she said that the college “denied” her the learning provisions that she had re- quested. “The key thing I wanted was extended deadlines because I am a really slow reader,” she said. “But they just dismissed it and I started to struggle and fall behind.”
She claimed that the college set her extra exams with a higher pass mark than her peers before she went on medical leave in March 2013 and also on her return a year later.
Oxford University said that it takes a “proactive approach to students with disabilities” and a spokesman said: “The decision to take medical leave is never entered into lightly. It is used as one option within a strong and caring support system, often with the student’s agreement, which in many cases helps them to recover and resume their studies successfully.”
Chris Fry, a managing partner at Unity Law and specialist in equalities and human right law, is representing Miss Spector and Miss Dance on a no win no fee basis. He said that the surge of lawsuits against universities is driven by the changing attitudes of young people with more aware of their rights.
Since the 2010 Equality Act, he said he has worked on over a hundred cases of students wanting to sue their university for discrimination. Most have claimed the “reasonable adjustments” required by the Act to accommodate their mental illness were not made.
“This is a generation of students who grew up with enforceable rights,” he told The Daily Telegraph.
He said that the introduction of £9,000 tuition fees was another factor.
“If you’re paying £9,000 a year, you want to ensure that you are receiving a kind of service that allows you to maximise your outcome,” he said. “It’s clear to see why these students who need reasonable adjustments are not prepared to be pushed around or ignored.”
Official data showed earlier this year that the number of students forced to drop out of university due to mental health problems has trebled in recent years, prompting charities and counsellors to urge universities to ensure that proper support is in place.
Jesus College denies all of the allegations of discrimination, and does not accept that its requirement for mock exams to be sat in a large hall and to be handwritten placed students with anxiety or depression at any major disadvantage to their peers.
The college also says it had repeatedly encouraged Miss Dance to seek counselling.