In court documents filed Monday, attorney Richard J. Orloski asked the judge to either grant Megan Thode a new trial or to alter his judgment in her favor. Over the course of a four-day trial earlier this month, Orloski argued Thode was unfairly punished for her views on gay marriage by her student-teacher, Amanda Carr Eckhardt. Thode had achieved a B-plus in the therapy internship course, but Eckhardt gave her zero out of 25 points for class participation, dropping her a full letter grade.
The resulting C-plus, while not a failing grade, did not let her move on in her studies to become a licensed therapist. She eventually received her master's degree, but not in that specialty.
Giordano ruled against Thode, but said he was puzzled about how the university could give her zero points for participation. Case law limited him on overturning the grade, and while Thode's case was believable, he said, it did not prove Eckhardt acted arbitrarily.
In Monday's document, Orloski argued Eckhardt graded Thode on parameters outside the syllabus. When she began an internal appeal, the university failed to follow its student handbook guidelines, he said. The university's actions amounted to breach of contract, he said, and the rarity of the zero participation grade gives Giordano enough ground to change the grade.
"No professor at the College of Education ever gave a zero for class participation in the history of the College of Education, thereby meeting the standard of outside the academic norm," Orloski wrote.
Orloski is also arguing Giordano incorrectly barred some emails from being introduced at trial. Some of them involved "vitriolic anti-gay emails" sent by Eckhardt, which Orloski claimed would have discredited her as a witness.
Orloski did not immediately respond to a call seeking comment.
At trial, Lehigh officials denied Eckhardt and the College of Education did anything wrong. While the zero grade was unprecedented to the best of anyone's knowledge, Thode's unprofessional behavior in the classroom warranted it, the school's legal team argued. She showed an inability to self-reflect, a crucial skill for a therapist, and did not respond well to critiques from others during class sessions, several witnesses said. She also had occasional outbursts during class, Eckhardt said, interrupting class to request aspirin, cursing and calling a professor a pompous ass.
The suit alleged Thode would face a loss in future wages of $1.3 million over the course of a lifetime, a figure that did not take into account the different master's degree Thode earned. However, Orloski told Giordano in his closing arguments Thode would be victorious if he awarded her $1 and changed the grade to a B.