PHILADELPHIA — A nursing student is suing a private college, citing alleged gender discrimination and retaliation.
Miranda Webb filed a complaint on Jan. 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania against Drexel University, alleging the defendant unlawfully retaliated against her for filling a Title IX grievance.
According to the complaint, in the fall of 2018, during Webb's clinical courses with defendant Drexel, plaintiff claims she was subjected to unwelcome and repeated comments from the clinical instructor regarding her weight, body type and appearance.
He also allegedly rated plaintiff poorly, then used the poor ratings he had created to suggest that she could improve her performance by working one-on-one with him outside of regular hours. She filed a Title IX grievance letter to defendant about the alleged ongoing harassment, the suit says.
However, when she met defendant's committee, she was reported to have violated various ACE program policies, thus being dismissed from the ACE program, the suit says. She also was barred her from her final clinical that is required for graduation, the suit says.
The plaintiff holds Drexel University responsible because the defendant allegedly allowed its students to endure repeated incidents of sexual harassment at the hands of its clinical instructor and prevented her from continuing her education not to protect patients, but to instead punish plaintiff for bringing the harassment comments and behavior to light.
The plaintiff requests a trial by jury and seeks judgment for reimbursement of plaintiff's tuition amounting to $25,436, award of expenses, interest at the statutory rate, and such other relief as the Court deems equitable and just. She is represented by Michael Raffaele of Kershenbaum & Raffaele LLC in Bryn Mawr.
The U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Case No. is 2:19-cv-00213-WB.