Katchur v. Thomas Jefferson Univ.

354 F. Supp. 3d 655
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Pennsylvania
DecidedJanuary 18, 2019
DocketCIVIL ACTION NO. 18-3421
StatusPublished
Cited by21 cases

This text of 354 F. Supp. 3d 655 (Katchur v. Thomas Jefferson Univ.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Pennsylvania primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Katchur v. Thomas Jefferson Univ., 354 F. Supp. 3d 655 (E.D. Pa. 2019).

Opinion

Baylson, J.

I. Introduction

In this case, Plaintiff, Nicole Katchur, alleges that Defendant, Thomas Jefferson University, wrongfully denied her admission to medical school. Plaintiff alleges that Defendant's rejection of Plaintiff's medical school application constitutes discrimination on the basis of her race, gender, national origin, and ancestry; that Defendant created a hostile educational environment; and that Defendant rejected Plaintiff in retaliation after Plaintiff submitted a discrimination complaint. The First Amended Complaint ("Complaint") alleges four Counts:

1. Count I : Violation of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 ("Title VI"), 42 U.S.C. § 2000d, by discriminating against Plaintiff on the basis of her race (Caucasian), sex (female), national origin (American), and ancestry (European); creating a hostile educational environment; and/or retaliating against Plaintiff for registering a complaint of discrimination.
2. Count II : Violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 ("Title IX"), 20 U.S.C. § 1681(a), by discriminating against Plaintiff on the basis of her sex (female), creating a hostile educational environment, and/or retaliating against Plaintiff for registering a complaint of discrimination.
3. Count III : Violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 by discriminating against Plaintiff on the basis of her race (Caucasian) and creating a hostile educational environment.
4. Count IV : Violation of 42 U.S.C. § 1981 by retaliating against Plaintiff for registering a complaint of race discrimination.

Presently before this Court is Defendant's Motion to Dismiss all Counts of the Complaint. For the reasons discussed below, the Motion to Dismiss is granted in part and denied in part.

II. Factual Background

Taking Plaintiff's allegations as true, the factual background is as follows. Plaintiff is a twenty-two-year-old female who graduated from Princeton University in June 2017 with a Bachelor of Arts degree. (ECF 8, First Am. Compl., "FAC" ¶ 7.) She is a citizen of New Jersey and resides in Mullica Hill, New Jersey. (Id. ¶ 3.) Defendant is a non-profit corporation organized and existing under the laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and, at all times relevant to this action, has maintained its place of business in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. (Id. ¶ 4.)

While Plaintiff attended Princeton, she aspired to pursue a career in medicine and majored in Neuroscience in furtherance of that goal. (Id. ¶ 8.) Plaintiff also held various jobs and participated in numerous extracurricular and volunteer activities. (Id. ¶ 9.) For example, Plaintiff served as a Math Teaching Assistant and Tutor, worked as a counselor at Stanford University during a summer vacation, organized an annual fashion show to raise awareness for Autism, volunteered at a local animal *659shelter, served as Princeton's Preview Host, and volunteered with United for Sight and PrinceTHON. (Id. ¶ 10.) Plaintiff also maintained high marks in her Neuroscience major. (Id. ¶ 11.) Plaintiff researched various medical schools and ultimately decided to pursue a career at Defendant's Sidney Kimmel Medical College ("Jefferson"). (Id. ¶ 12.) Plaintiff scored in the 82nd percentile nationally on the Medical College Admission Test ("MCAT"), which was "well-within the range of those students previously admitted to Jefferson." (Id. ¶ 32.)

On or about August 10, 2016, Plaintiff learned that Defendant's Director of Admissions, Dr. Brooks, would be visiting Princeton's campus on August 11, 2016 to discuss Jefferson with prospective applicants. (Id. ¶ 13.) Plaintiff was excited to discover that she would be the only student attending Dr. Brooks's presentation, so it would be a one-on-one meeting where she would have the opportunity to express her interest in Jefferson. (Id. ¶ 14.)

On or about August 11, 2016, Plaintiff attended the meeting with Dr. Brooks. (Id. ¶ 15.) Dr. Brooks immediately inquired into Plaintiff's ethnicity. (Id. ¶ 16.) After informing Dr. Brooks that she was Caucasian, Dr. Brooks asked if Plaintiff was sure and suggested that Plaintiff obtain an expensive genetic test to see if she could qualify as Native American or American Indian to garner better chances of being accepted to Jefferson. (Id. ) Dr. Brooks informed Plaintiff that she advised a past Caucasian applicant to obtain a genetic test, that the applicant learned that he was partially African American, and that he was accepted into Jefferson on account of his race. (Id. ¶ 17.) Dr. Brooks also informed Plaintiff that she would gain admission to Jefferson in the incoming medical school class if she were African American, rather than Caucasian. (Id. ¶ 18.)

Plaintiff attempted to steer the conversation to a more appropriate subject by asking about Jefferson's JeffHOPE program. (Id. ¶ 19.) In response, Dr. Brooks informed Plaintiff that she could get information about the program on Jefferson's website, and then proceeded to ask Plaintiff if she could give her "maternal advice" about how to "take her 'mess' and turn it into admission." (Id. at ¶¶ 19-20.) Dr. Brooks insinuated that Plaintiff's "status" as a Caucasian, European, American was a "mess" incapable of admission to Jefferson. (Id. ¶ 20.)

Plaintiff again tried to move the conversation away from her national origin, ancestry, and race, asking about Jefferson's mentorship programs for first-generation college students. (Id. ¶ 21.) Dr. Brooks responded, "Oh! You are a first generation, that's why you're at Princeton," insinuating that Plaintiff's high SAT scores and status as Valedictorian of her high school would not warrant admission to Princeton. (Id. )1 When Dr. Brooks continued to assert that Plaintiff should attempt to discover if her family was somehow related to a minority group, Plaintiff again responded that she was a Caucasian, European, American who could not qualify as Native American or a member of any other minority group. (Id. ¶ 23.)

Lastly, Dr. Brooks suggested that Plaintiff pursue a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine ("DO") instead of a Doctor of Medicine ("MD") degree, stating that a DO "is not bad unless you plan on marrying off and living in a foreign country." (Id. ¶ 24.) In response to this "sexist remark," Plaintiff stated that she aspired to pursue an MD, after which Dr. Brooks proposed that *660

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Bluebook (online)
354 F. Supp. 3d 655, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/katchur-v-thomas-jefferson-univ-paed-2019.