Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Kids today (sigh...)

In today's "Frivolous Lawsuit" section, we have the case of Megan Thode, a girl just starting out in life who nonetheless takes with her a reputation as a whiner and a daddy's girl which, in this internet generation, may well follow her for decades to come.

Megan was a student at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania. She was there seeking a master's in counseling and human services, a program that would have conferred upon her a license as a professional counselor had she completed the coursework satisfactorily. But alas, little Megan did not perform satisfactorily in one of her classes, earning only a C+ in a course that required a B to move on to the next level. Per her evaluation, she was unprofessional, swore in class, and at one point had an "outburst in which she began crying".

Now in my day (and most of yours, I suspect), the student would have met with the course advisers and worked out a plan for improving the student's performance, then repeated the course as necessary. But not poor little Megan. You see, Megan Thode is a special snowflake who deserves to graduate no matter what, so Megan showed up for her meeting with the faculty advisers, daddy in tow, and demanded to know not what she had to do better, but to be given a higher grade, a written apology from the teacher, and financial compensation from the school for not passing her as was her right.

Lehigh University student sues over grade, seeks $1.3 million

Oh, and did I mention that despite all of the fuss, Megan isn't even paying for her schooling? You see, her daddy is a professor there, so Megan was going to school tuition-free, both through undergrad and grad school, and the university was also providing her with jobs, which they continued to do even after she filed her lawsuit.

The lawsuit, by the way, seeks 1.3 million dollars, which is what Megan feels she would have earned over and above her present salary had she not then quit the program that she'd been in and taken another free masters degree in a related social worker field.

Now not only does Megan need and deserve a swift kick in the ass from the Boot of reality, her father, Lehigh finance professor Stephen Thode, and her scum-sucking shyster lawyer Richard J. Orloski, deserve one, too. In a perfect world, the three of them would constitute the night shift at the local McDonalds until they learned to appreciate actually earning their way through life instead of just leeching and sponging off of the producers and taxpayers.

I want my professional license NOW, Daddy!

11 comments:

  1. Sigh....Glad I got out of the Adjunct Instructor gig at the CC when I did.

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  2. The generation that will be in charge after we're gone.

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  3. I think the Oompa-Loompa's would agree with you.

    Academics live in their own little world. Those of us who have had to work with them in the past understand.

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  4. Sharing, because some people's name need to pop up A LOT when future would-be employers (and boyfriends) Google them!

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  5. I have been a proponant of Tort reform for a long time. I am sure that she is a hardcore supporter of the present occupant of the White House. the entitlement mentality will be a cross for the new generation to bear.

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  6. Lehigh University is likely responsible, at least partially, for its own predicament.

    The institution where I now teach (or, at least my own Department there) has made clear that being the child of a faculty member does not confer the privileges of a royal bloodline, and that all students are expected to master the coursework in order to pass. I know of at least one instance where a faculty member's services were discontinued because he attempted to obtain special academic for his son.

    A few years ago, I had a 1-semester teaching gig at another school where it was clear that children of privilege were given special privileges. I did feel subtle pressures in such regard, but, being a temporary short-timer, I did not cave in, so they backed off. I would not bet against the grades having been changed after I left, however.

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  7. Good fricking grief.

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  8. I know one woman who wanted to be a teacher. She angered her "mentor" teacher who then failed her. Her college announced that she either quit the program or they would be "forced to" get rid of her.

    Oh wait, you were whining about the powerless not being nice. Yeah, that's great.

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  9. Obviously commenter Kirk is not familiar with the concept that two wrongs don't make a right. Yeah, teachers mess up students, but some kid demanding something they didn't earn is wrong, too.

    Two wrongs make two wrongs.

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  10. Not no but F**K no... She doesn't deserve s**t... I wouldn't kick her in the ass with YOUR foot...

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  11. Wow, this is gonna leave a mark on poor Megan. Forever.

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