Marina Hall v. University of Southern California, et al.
Published: Feb. 11, 2003 | Result Date: Jan. 10, 2003 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: BC255449 Bench Decision – $0
Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Central
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Defendant
Facts
The plaintiff was a student in the Peter Stark Producing Program at USC's School of Cinema-Television. The program has as one of its ethical guidelines a rule against sharing materials handed out in class with people not associated with the program. The plaintiff, a Russian native, had been provided with an untitled "mystery script," written by a prominent screenwriter (whose name did not appear on the script when handed out) set in Russia during the time of Catherine the Great. The plaintiff and her classmates were instructed by their teacher, who was a personal friend of the screenwriter, to write as their midterm project, a paper that set forth whether or not the script should be produced. The plaintiff, by her own admission, "fell in love" with the script. She made certain comments to the teacher, however, that made the teacher concerned that the plaintiff had discussed the script with people outside the program. She voiced these concerns to the program's administrators, who met with the plaintiff. Based upon comments the plaintif made in their meeting, the administrators concluded that the plaintiff had violated the program's ethical standards. They referred the matter to the school's Office of Student Conduct who conducted a review of the matter. The plaintiff was allowed to submit her position statement and provide supporting evidence. The program did the same. The assistant dean for student conduct determined that the plaintiff had violated the program's rule, as well as the university's student conduct code, and the university expelled her. The plaintiff appealed her expulsion to the Student Behaviors Appeal Board which affirmed the expulsion. She then filed her lawsuit.
Settlement Discussions
The plaintiff submitted an initial demand of $750,000. The defendants submitted a C.C.P. Section 998 offer of $3,000. Two court-ordered mediations were unsuccessful.
Result
The court ruled that all of the plaintiff's claims were barred by C.C.P. Section 1094.5 and granted judgment in the defendant's favor.
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