A federal-court jury in Detroit has awarded $1.72-million to a former student at the University of Michigan’s School of Dentistry who contended in a lawsuit that she was illegally thrown out of the school three years ago, the Associated Press reported.
The former student, Alissa Zwick, said she was dismissed from the school in 2005 because of a feud between the associate dean for academic affairs, Marilyn S. Lantz, and two faculty members. A lawyer for Ms. Zwick presented evidence that Dr. Lantz had asked three instructors to write letters saying the student was unfit to practice dentistry. Ms. Zwick, who is now pursuing a master’s degree in speech pathology at Eastern Michigan University, had a B average and was in her third year when she was dismissed from the dental school.
Dr. Lantz did not respond to a message left by the AP, but a university spokeswoman said Michigan was disappointed with the verdict. “The university has a responsibility to exercise careful and deliberate judgment about who should be permitted to graduate from its professional schools and practice in the health-care professions,” the spokeswoman, Kelly Cunningham, said in a written statement. —Charles Huckabee
