Guess v. St. Martinus Univ.

WILLIAM PATRICK GUESS, Plaintiff, v. ST. MARTINUS UNIVERSITY,and OAKLAND PHYSICIANS MEDICAL CENTER, LLC, Defendants.

Case No. 2:19-cv-12159

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT EASTERN DISTRICT OF MICHIGAN SOUTHERN DIVISION

April 13, 2021

HON. GERSHWIN A. DRAIN

OPINION AND ORDER GRANTING RENEWED MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT [#30], DENYING MOTION TO AMEND [#35], GRANTING IN PART AND DENYING IN PART MOTION FOR RULE 11 SANCTIONS AND TO STRIKE [#47], DENYING MOTION TO STRIKE REPLY [#48] AND GRANTING MOTION FOR AN EXTENSION OF TIME [#50]

I. INTRODUCTION

Presently before the Court is the Defendants' Renewed Motion for Summary Judgment and Plaintiff's Motion to Amend and Supplement. These matters are fully briefed, and a hearing was held on February 4, 2021. For the reasons that follow, the Court grants Defendants' Renewed Motion for Summary Judgment and denies Plaintiff's Motion to Amend and Supplement.

Also, before the Court is the Defendants' Motion for Rule 11 Sanctions and to Strike Second and Third Motions to Amend, filed on January 19, 2021, Defendants' Motion to Strike Reply to Second and Third Motions to Amend, filed on January 19, 2021 and, finally, Plaintiff's Motion for Extension of Time to File Reply, filed on January 27, 2021. These matters are also fully briefed, and the Court concludes oral argument will not aid in the disposition of these matters. Accordingly, the Court will determine these motions on the briefs. See E.D. Mich. L.R. 7.1(f)(2). As to these motions, the Court grants in part and denies in part Defendants' Motion for Rule 11 Sanctions and to Strike, denies Defendants' Motion to Strike Reply and grants Plaintiff's Motion for an Extension of Time.

II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND

A. PLAINTIFF'S DISABILITY AND ADMISSION TO ST. MARTINUS UNIVERSITY

Plaintiff suffers from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder ("ADHD"). On June 25, 2013, Plaintiff accepted an offer of admission to St. Martinus University (SMU) medical school to begin during the July 2014 semester. ECF No. 39, PageID.1246. SMU is a private medical school in Curacao, a Dutch Caribbean Island in the Lesser Antilles off the coast of Venezuela. Plaintiff asserts that, prior to enrolling at St. Martinus University, he communicated with the University's topexecutive - Jeff Bowman - several times concerning his ADHD diagnosis. ECF No. 35, PageID.857, 866. Plaintiff claims he "agreed to attend St. Martinus University, and Defendants agreed to accommodate his disability." Id.

Specifically, Plaintiff avers that Bowman informed Plaintiff that his "disability would not be a problem." Id. Plaintiff further asserts that Bowman told him that the University had accommodated other students with disabilities for regular classes, clinical rotations and Step 1 examinations. Id. Plaintiff forwarded all of the necessary documents for his accommodation request to Dr. Schiff, who was the University's dean at the time. Id. at PageID.1464. Plaintiff met with Dr. Schiff in his office to discuss the accommodation request documents. Id. During this discussion, Dr. Schiff told Plaintiff that in regard to his "request for disability accommodations, he was all set." Id.

Even though SMU accommodated Plaintiff's request for extra time for examinations, a review of Plaintiff's official transcripts reveals that Plaintiff struggled to pass many of his courses, taking some courses repeatedly before receiving a passing grade. ECF No. 39, PageID.395-98 (evidencing Plaintiff failed an anatomy course three times before receiving a passing grade, he failed to pass biochemistry after four attempts, and passed neuroscience after taking the course for the third time among other failing grades in required courses).

B. PHYSICIAN LICENSING AND PROMETRIC TESTING

Physician licensing in the United States is governed by the National Board of Medical Examiners ("NBME"), which administers three phases of testing throughout a student's attendance at medical school, commonly referred to as Step 1, Step 2, and Step 3 testing. Id. at PageID.242 (citing https://www.usmle.org/step-1/). Generally, students attempt the Step 1 exam after their second year of medical school when they have completed the basic classroom coursework. Id. at PageID.243 (citing https://www.usmle.org/frequently-asked-questions/).

However, prior to taking the Step 1 exam, many students commonly take preparatory examinations administered by Prometric. Prometric is not a party to this action. It is an independent company that provides testing centers around the world in a variety of fields, including medicine. ECF No. 30, PageID.244 (citing https://www.prometric.com/about-us/about-prometic). SMU had a policy that students achieve a particular score on the Prometric examination in order to be eligible to take the NBME Step 1 exam. Id. at PageID.336. Plaintiff took the Prometric exam four times, but never attained the requisite score for eligibility to take the NBME Step 1 exam. Id.

Plaintiff claims that when he took his Prometric tests, the employee working at the testing center informed him that she did not see that Plaintiff had been granted any accommodations for taking the test. Id. at PageID.334. Plaintiffmaintains that the clinical Dean of SMU, Mark Poulin, informed him that he had forgotten to arrange for Plaintiff's accommodations at the testing center. Indeed, in a February 6, 2019 email, Poulin informed Plaintiff that:

William I have scheduled the exams for the blocks we discussed a few weeks back - One change - I scheduled the first two for normal time and the last 2 with 1.5X accommodation - I realized only after the first two that you had requested accommodation and the NBME registration process has no mechanism for me to make changes in an order once I push the order button and add to the roster. Permit will come in email as in the past!

ECF No. 39, PageID.1491. In June of 2019, Plaintiff contacted Prometric and was informed there was no "accommodation request for" his June 4, 2019 examination order.

Plaintiff contends that he completed all of the necessary paperwork to request an accommodation and "then it's up to the school, so it was Mark Poulin, the clinical dean, to provide the stuff" to Prometric. ECF No. 15, PageID.355-56. Plaintiff alleges Defendants failure to accommodate his disability during the Prometric examinations deprived him of adequate time to successfully pass the examinations.

However, Defendants counter that Plaintiff was required to request accommodations directly from Prometric, who administers the examinations. A review of the Prometric Accommodation Request Packet suggests candidates for examinations seeking accommodations must fill out the request packet themselvesbefore submitting their request.¹ Once the packet is complete, including the candidate's signature authorizing "the release of the attached forms to Prometric staff to review and arrange the requested accommodation[,]" the candidate is directed to return the packet to Prometric directly. Id. at 2-3.

C. LAP FEES

Plaintiff's Second Amended Complaint further alleges that Defendants began charging him "lack of academic progress" (LAP) fees which were not provided for in the contract between the parties. During his deposition, Plaintiff explained that in 2016, the University began assessing lack of academic progress ("LAP") fees, which charged students a monthly fee of $200.00 for failure to complete the Step 1 exam within "six months after you finish your basic medical sciences." Id. at PageID.339.

D. PLAINTIFF'S TUITION PAYMENTS AND WITHHOLDING OF TRANSCRIPTS

On July 27, 2016, Plaintiff signed an Acknowledgement of Debt, which stated he currently had an outstanding balance of $20,215 with the first installment payment of $6,750 due on or before September 21, 2016. Id. at PageID.403. The Acknowledgment further stated that Plaintiff's second installment payment was due on or before December 20, 2016, and the remaining balance would be due onor before March 20, 2017. Id. Finally, "[e]ach late payment will incur a $50.00 per day late fee." Id. In signing this document, Plaintiff acknowledged that his "transcripts will be withheld until the full payment [is] made." Id.

Defendants' claim Plaintiff has yet to pay his outstanding balance, however the University forwarded his official transcript to his counsel on November 23, 2020. Id. at PageID.394-98. When Plaintiff received his official transcript, he realized that his grade point average did not increase after he successfully repeated several classes as he assumed it would. Instead, Plaintiff was surprised to learn his grade point average on his official transcript was .08. Plaintiff maintains that his grade point average should have been 2.1 or 2.2 after he successfully repeated the courses he had failed.

Plaintiff transferred to Washington Medical School in 2019, however he claims he could not enroll in any classes because the Defendants refused to release his official transcript until just recently.

E. DEFENDANTS SMU AND OPMC

St. Martinus is a limited liability company organized under the laws of Curacao. ECF No. 30, PageID.267. The General Managing Director of SMU is Sanjay Sharma, who along with his wife, Priyam Sharma, purchased the University in 2010. Id. Mrs. Sharma formerly served as the Director of St. Martinus University in 2011 and 2012. See ECF No. 39, PageID.1400. When Plaintiffbecame a student in 2014, Mrs. Sharma was the Dean of Administration at the University. Id. at PageID.1402. Mrs. Sharma testified at her deposition that she believed she and her husband still owned a controlling interest in the University, but the University was run by a company in Curacao and she has "zero say" in what to do and what not to do with respect to the University. Id. at PageID.1411.²

In May of 2016, SMU entered into an agreement with Pontiac General Hospital (PGH) wherein the hospital agreed to allow some of the University's medical students to do their clinical rotations at PGH in Pontiac,...