Ke v. Drexel Univ. (Summary)

MEDICAL SCHOOL/DISCRIMINATION

Ke v. Drexel Univ., No. 11-6708 (E.D. Pa. Mar. 14, 2013)

A trial court denied a former medical student’s motion requesting a preliminary injunction that would mandate that his medical school reinstate him. The medical student initially was dismissed from the school for failing courses during his second year. He was later readmitted but required to repeat his second year. In his third year, the student participated in a family medicine clerkship.  After his supervising physician asked about the student’s nationality and found out that the student was originally from China, he allegedly began to treat the student condescendingly.  Later, the student received a negative evaluation of his performance, was required to repeat the clerkship, and was told that another unsatisfactory grade would result in dismissal.  He received a marginal grade in a subsequent OB/GYN clerkship and was dismissed. After unsuccessful attempts to appeal the decision, the student sued, alleging discrimination and retaliation based on race or national origin. 

The court refused to grant the student’s injunction, finding that the alleged discriminatory questions regarding his nationality were too far removed from his first family medicine clerkship evaluation and eventual dismissal from the school to establish discriminatory motivation.  And since all other allegedly discriminatory comments were made a month after the student’s dismissal, it found that discrimination was not likely the cause of the student’s dismissal.  The court also found the student was not likely to suffer irreparable harm if it did not grant him a preliminary injunction, because he had already been out of school for two years and had not applied to another medical school or sought alternative employment.  Finally, the court found that the balance of interests favored declining his motion to be reinstated as a third-year medical student, since the medical school likely would suffer harm by reinstating a student who had been out of school for two years and admitted to forgetting what he had previously learned.  Therefore, it declined to grant the student’s motion for preliminary injunction for reinstatement.