refuses to reimburse travel expenses

[jcwst1]

I am a grad student filing a suit against my former professor, to recover travel expenses he offered to pay for a conference he mandated I go to. I have taken a couple legal studies courses, this is to ask for comments anyone might have.
The professor required a group of about 8 grad students to go to a conference, provided them with RT airline tickets and hotel rooms, for educational purposes only. 3 months later the professor dictated I leave the university on involuntary LOA for health reasons. 5 months after that I turned in the expense report with receipts (airport parking, meals, etc.) for $245 (for 5 days). The other students had been reimbursed shortly after the trip but I did not file a report promptly due to a chronic illness, since at that time there was no time limit for submitting it.
Apparently (I can only guess) some months after I left on LOA he declared a new rule that expense reports must be turned in within X number of days or they would not be honored. He never informed me of this.
Since he refuses to reimburse me because of a rule that he made some months after I left, and never told me about, I think I have a good case for my small claims suit. Are there any relevant principles I need to be aware of?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

You will likely wish to obtain a statement from at least one other student that they were reimbursed for the trip. If possible, have them state that there was no time period for which to turn in the expenses. I would send a demand letter first to the professor, certified return receipt, in an attempt to resolve the situation. You may want to cc via email and see if there is a reply and what kind of defense this professor may think of taking. Good luck to you!

Originally posted by jcwst1
I am a grad student filing a suit against my former professor, to recover travel expenses he offered to pay for a conference he mandated I go to. I have taken a couple legal studies courses, this is to ask for comments anyone might have.
The professor required a group of about 8 grad students to go to a conference, provided them with RT airline tickets and hotel rooms, for educational purposes only. 3 months later the professor dictated I leave the university on involuntary LOA for health reasons. 5 months after that I turned in the expense report with receipts (airport parking, meals, etc.) for $245 (for 5 days). The other students had been reimbursed shortly after the trip but I did not file a report promptly due to a chronic illness, since at that time there was no time limit for submitting it.
Apparently (I can only guess) some months after I left on LOA he declared a new rule that expense reports must be turned in within X number of days or they would not be honored. He never informed me of this.
Since he refuses to reimburse me because of a rule that he made some months after I left, and never told me about, I think I have a good case for my small claims suit. Are there any relevant principles I need to be aware of?