Wethepeople
New Member
- Jurisdiction
- Texas
Hi everyone, I'll try to keep it short, your feedback and responses are greatly appreciated.
I was recently a victim in an assault by contact incident (no injuries) where I was followed and grabbed by another student at a local public community college for simply not wanting to partake in small talk with this individual. After the incident, both parties and bookstore staff were interviewed (to my best knowledge) and the officer and the dean shared with me that the suspects statements confirmed mine, but that there would not be a problem moving forward and that I should go back to class and cease communications with this individual. I explained I wished to press charges if it was within my rights to do so and later filed a complaint with the college stating proper actions were not taken, and that it was within my right to press charges and further, this individual should have been removed from all shared classes and requested the video footage, witness testimonies along with the police report...etc. From that point, I received nothing but retaliation and resistance from the school, including attempts to withhold evidence, and threats that I would fail all four classes if I choose not to return back to campus where all instructors were directed to mandate attendance, and new attendance policies and quizzes were implemented, and despite have straight A's on all assignments, I am told that I will fail at least 3/4 classes. There were other discriminatory statements made by the Dean, Deans office and the officers that night that I believe influenced their treatment which would constitute discrimination, and I have filed a complaint with the department of Education, however given that the school is refusing to provide body camera/voice recordings, along with all the other evidence, I'm unsure how much of the incident will be uncovered by the DOE. The story goes on, but mainly I wanted to know, regardless of the DOE's final determination, what recourses are available to me post final grade submission. I have taken every step with the school internally and also considering hiring a lawyer. However, My Ideal course would be to proceed through small claims if possible. I'm not sure if small claims will have the authority to recover my grades, and more so whether I'm even able to sue a public institution through small claims. I have also just received confirmation from the Attorney generals office, that per the colleges request, I would not be granted the requested information pursuant to section 552.108(a)(2), since the incident did not result in an arrest etc. Will I be able to request all documents and recordings if a lawsuit is in place. What if the school destroys the critical evidence by the time a lawsuit is in action?
Your feedback or advice is much appreciated. I'm also interested in Lawyer referrals within Texas.
Thank you.
I was recently a victim in an assault by contact incident (no injuries) where I was followed and grabbed by another student at a local public community college for simply not wanting to partake in small talk with this individual. After the incident, both parties and bookstore staff were interviewed (to my best knowledge) and the officer and the dean shared with me that the suspects statements confirmed mine, but that there would not be a problem moving forward and that I should go back to class and cease communications with this individual. I explained I wished to press charges if it was within my rights to do so and later filed a complaint with the college stating proper actions were not taken, and that it was within my right to press charges and further, this individual should have been removed from all shared classes and requested the video footage, witness testimonies along with the police report...etc. From that point, I received nothing but retaliation and resistance from the school, including attempts to withhold evidence, and threats that I would fail all four classes if I choose not to return back to campus where all instructors were directed to mandate attendance, and new attendance policies and quizzes were implemented, and despite have straight A's on all assignments, I am told that I will fail at least 3/4 classes. There were other discriminatory statements made by the Dean, Deans office and the officers that night that I believe influenced their treatment which would constitute discrimination, and I have filed a complaint with the department of Education, however given that the school is refusing to provide body camera/voice recordings, along with all the other evidence, I'm unsure how much of the incident will be uncovered by the DOE. The story goes on, but mainly I wanted to know, regardless of the DOE's final determination, what recourses are available to me post final grade submission. I have taken every step with the school internally and also considering hiring a lawyer. However, My Ideal course would be to proceed through small claims if possible. I'm not sure if small claims will have the authority to recover my grades, and more so whether I'm even able to sue a public institution through small claims. I have also just received confirmation from the Attorney generals office, that per the colleges request, I would not be granted the requested information pursuant to section 552.108(a)(2), since the incident did not result in an arrest etc. Will I be able to request all documents and recordings if a lawsuit is in place. What if the school destroys the critical evidence by the time a lawsuit is in action?
Your feedback or advice is much appreciated. I'm also interested in Lawyer referrals within Texas.
Thank you.