Hearing impaired nursing student files civil rights lawsuit against Marshall University

From The Herald-Dispatch in Huntington, W. Va.:

HUNTINGTON, W. Va. -- Marshall University is defending itself on a second front involving grades received by the daughter of state Treasurer John Perdue.

In a civil lawsuit in federal court, Alexandra Bertolotti, a hearing-impaired nursing student, is alleging disability discrimination. She and her Michigan-based attorney suggest she would have received a passing grade if she "had been even minimally accorded with same assistance" the university provided to Perdue's daughter. The margin separating Bertolotti from advancement in the nursing program was a half percentage point, the lawsuit claims.

Marshall University argues the hearing-impaired student did not follow university protocol and her lawsuit should be handled in a state court, not U.S. District Court. It also cites a lack of evidence, criticizes the format of the allegations and dismisses any attempt to tie Bertolotti's case to treatment of Perdue's daughter.

The professor for Perdue's daughter has questioned whether special treatment allowed her to finish coursework in two independent study courses and receive A's in both of them after a university dean became involved.

Bertolotti filed her case in August 2009. Her attorney then filed an amended complaint in October and interjected contrasts to the Perdue case in late November once media reports surfaced about it.

Those differences include a university-led investigation, a meeting with the professor and dean, opportunity to make up missed assignments and a move naming the dean as the student's lead professor. All were accommodations granted to Perdue's daughter, but not provided to Bertolotti, the amended complaint says.

"If the University is correct that its actions regarding the State Treasurer's daughter were proper, it becomes even more clear the plaintiff has been discriminated against by the defendants," wrote plaintiff attorney Michael D. Weikle.

The university argued in a Dec. 11 filing that the media reports about the Perdue case are inadmissible hearsay. It also addressed any belief by Bertolotti that political influence was exercised in the Perdue case.

"Such an event, even if true, makes it no more or less likely that plaintiff was the victim of disability discrimination or retaliation," the Dec. 11 university filing states. "It is simply not probative on any issue before the court."

Bertolotti's course in question was Nursing 319. She took the course last spring. Sandra Prunty was the assigned instructor, and the lawsuit claims Prunty had an "outrageous and cruel" reaction when informed of Bertolotti's disability at the end of the first class meeting.

"Rather than sitting down with plaintiff and discussing reasonable accommodations ... that could be made to assist the plaintiff, Dr. Prunty ridiculed the plaintiff's impairment (in front of her classmate) and questioned the plaintiff as to why she would even enroll in the University's Nursing Program with a hearing impairment," the filing states. "Prunty's tone at this first meeting with plaintiff was hostile, intimidating and demeaning. Dr. Prunty also sarcastically questioned plaintiff's ability to properly assess a patient's health (listen to the heart) with a hearing impairment."

Marshall officials denied Prunty did any of those things, according to court documents.

Bertolotti seeks accommodations to complete missed assignments, change the class rounding method, provide a passing score and receive special assistance in completing the next course, Nursing 323, in a timely fashion to avoid a one-year delay in completing the program.