Retaliation For Reporting A Professor's Plagiarism

[samrhode]

While finishing the final term of my MA at an Illinois graduate school, I discovered that one of my professors (and Department Head of Training) plagiarized about 70% of her Doctoral thesis (my estimation). She is an doctoral alumnus of this school, which is how I came across her thesis. I reported it to an Ethics professor who stated he would report it ASAP. Two weeks later, I was put through the wringer by an Ethics Committee (which included the plagiarizing professor). Basically, I fought tooth and nail to graduate, as there were numerous trumped up charges against me. Over several months, I was fighting for my degree. The plagiarizing professor's thesis was investigated, but the school determined it wasn't plagiarized. In a computer analysis by turnitin.com, it was determined that approx. 50% of the thesis was indeed plagiarized. The plagiarizing professor was fired and her doctoral degree was rescinded.

I'm wondering if I have any legal recourse, such as breach of contract, to sue this school as they put me through the gauntlet and painted me as a troublemaker in the eyes of the educational community. I've since graduated and moved to another state. Also, according to the handbook catalog, the school states that it hires well-qualified and highly experienced professors. She had two years of experience and had fraudulently obtained the doctoral degree that allowed her to teach/train us students at the school.

Any legal suggestions regarding the tricky realm of academic plagiarism?

[lealea1005]

While finishing the final term of my MA at an Illinois graduate school, I discovered that one of my professors (and Department Head of Training) plagiarized about 70% of her Doctoral thesis (my estimation). She is an doctoral alumnus of this school, which is how I came across her thesis. I reported it to an Ethics professor who stated he would report it ASAP. Two weeks later, I was put through the wringer by an Ethics Committee (which included the plagiarizing professor). Basically, I fought tooth and nail to graduate, as there were numerous trumped up charges against me. Over several months, I was fighting for my degree. The plagiarizing professor's thesis was investigated, but the school determined it wasn't plagiarized. In a computer analysis by turnitin.com, it was determined that approx. 50% of the thesis was indeed plagiarized. The plagiarizing professor was fired and her doctoral degree was rescinded.

I'm wondering if I have any legal recourse, such as breach of contract, to sue this school as they put me through the gauntlet and painted me as a troublemaker in the eyes of the educational community. I've since graduated and moved to another state. Also, according to the handbook catalog, the school states that it hires well-qualified and highly experienced professors. She had two years of experience and had fraudulently obtained the doctoral degree that allowed her to teach/train us students at the school.

Any legal suggestions regarding the tricky realm of academic plagiarism?

What are your monetary losses?

[samrhode]

My monetary loss would be that I was not able to pursue my LPC licensing, as the school had placed in my student file a letter stating that I was not suitable for the field. They also stated very harmful clinical terms in the letter as well, regarding my character. In the state of Illinois, they allow the school to input comments regarding the applicant when applying for licensing. I have since changed fields of work. So, the monetary loss would be the tuition, training costs I paid to pursue the field and potential earnings lossed since being allowed to graduate.