Thursday, February 03, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Former UNLV student files lawsuit over grade

Case stems from B-minus in 2004 history class, subsequent disputes

A former UNLV student is suing the university after losing an appeal over a low grade.

Bob Whitney, 52, filed a lawsuit in District Court on Jan. 12 asking for at least $10,000 for emotional duress, tuition, books and living expenses, and alleging that a history professor discriminated against his conservative values.

University officials, who hadn't been served with the lawsuit Tuesday, said that the case has no merit and that Whitney has a history of threatening behavior.

Whitney tried unsuccessfully to appeal the B-minus he received in Eugene Moehring's class in spring 2004.

According to the complaint, he received the grade because of Moehring's fast-paced lectures that prevented him from taking complete notes. He said Moehring criticized his conservative bent in papers and gave him a grade that damaged his grade-point average and made him ineligible for student loans.

When Whitney asked Andrew Bell, then a graduate coordinator, about the appeal Sept. 2, he said Bell yelled at him in front of his wife and told them the department wouldn't change the grade.

The next day, Bell called university police about two messages he said Whitney left on his machine, according to a university police report.

One message, loaded with expletives that appeared with Whitney's phone number on caller ID, stated, " ... we are not colonists, and we got independence long ago. ... I'll show you what I'm made of. ... Don't ever treat me like that in front of my wife again."

On Tuesday, Whitney denied he said that.

Bell, now associate dean of the liberal arts college, and Moehring, who has taught at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for 28 years, declined to comment on the lawsuit.

Department Chairman Hal Rothman said the department encourages debate of all viewpoints.

Whitney pointed to personal problems for his slipping GPA. In 2002, he said his wife was in an accident and her rehabilitation limited his concentration.

In a Sept. 3 letter, before he filed the lawsuit, Whitney demanded $5,000 from Bell for his "outrageous" conduct. Then, he said, he realized the entire department was responsible and filed the lawsuit.

"When they won't let a student appeal a grade, won't look into mitigating circumstances like in my case my wife was injured, and when the graduate coordinator just starts yelling and screaming at you, something has got to be done," he said.

In an unrelated grade challenge, the university is in negotiations with student Matthew Nishimoto, who filed a lawsuit in 2003 over a grade.