University of London Faces Lawsuit Over Disproportionate Expulsion of Student Impersonated Online
A former student at Richmond American University London is suing the institution for £98,000 in damages after she was expelled without sufficient evidence to prove that she had written a series of tweets containing hate speech about the Israel-Gaza conflict. The university's decision came after it received a complaint about posts on social media platforms that allegedly bore her name.
However, the student claims she was impersonated online and had not posted any inflammatory messages herself. Despite this, the university expelled her from her undergraduate degree due to alleged misconduct. She argued that the institution failed to appoint an expert in social media to investigate the matter properly and did not examine digital files presented as proof of her innocence.
The Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) upheld her complaint, stating that the university had not provided a clear explanation for its decision and asking it to reconsider her case. A new panel subsequently reviewed her expulsion and found no evidence to support the claims against her.
However, the student's ordeal is far from over. She has been granted permission to re-enroll at the university but feels that the damages she will receive are insufficient to cover her financial losses, which include supporting herself for over a year due to her expulsion. Moreover, she seeks a full apology from the university, which she has yet to receive.
In an emotional appeal, the student recounted how her online impersonation led to months of social stigma, loss of funding, and exacerbation of pre-existing mental health issues. She believes that she was cyberbullied and catfished online, with the perpetrator posting inflammatory tweets using her Instagram profile picture and Twitter handle.
The university maintains its commitment to fair and transparent processes but acknowledges that it takes any concerns seriously and provides clear opportunities for appeal and review. However, the student's case highlights the challenges of policing online discourse in higher education institutions and the need for greater awareness and expertise in dealing with social media-related issues.
A former student at Richmond American University London is suing the institution for £98,000 in damages after she was expelled without sufficient evidence to prove that she had written a series of tweets containing hate speech about the Israel-Gaza conflict. The university's decision came after it received a complaint about posts on social media platforms that allegedly bore her name.
However, the student claims she was impersonated online and had not posted any inflammatory messages herself. Despite this, the university expelled her from her undergraduate degree due to alleged misconduct. She argued that the institution failed to appoint an expert in social media to investigate the matter properly and did not examine digital files presented as proof of her innocence.
The Office of the Independent Adjudicator (OIA) upheld her complaint, stating that the university had not provided a clear explanation for its decision and asking it to reconsider her case. A new panel subsequently reviewed her expulsion and found no evidence to support the claims against her.
However, the student's ordeal is far from over. She has been granted permission to re-enroll at the university but feels that the damages she will receive are insufficient to cover her financial losses, which include supporting herself for over a year due to her expulsion. Moreover, she seeks a full apology from the university, which she has yet to receive.
In an emotional appeal, the student recounted how her online impersonation led to months of social stigma, loss of funding, and exacerbation of pre-existing mental health issues. She believes that she was cyberbullied and catfished online, with the perpetrator posting inflammatory tweets using her Instagram profile picture and Twitter handle.
The university maintains its commitment to fair and transparent processes but acknowledges that it takes any concerns seriously and provides clear opportunities for appeal and review. However, the student's case highlights the challenges of policing online discourse in higher education institutions and the need for greater awareness and expertise in dealing with social media-related issues.
they didnt even do a proper investigation into what happened, just took somethings someone else said about her as fact... and now shes having to pay £98k in damages 
plus her mental health issues have been made worse by all this stress & anxiety 
the university needs to step up its game when it comes to handling online situations like this, especially when its a student who's just trying to get an education! 
i mean they're gonna pay her £98k but it's still not enough considering how much stress she went through, loss of funding, mental health... it's a lot to deal with. and the fact that they didn't even investigate properly just because someone was impersonating her online is rediculous. maybe they should've taken a more nuanced approach 
like actually getting an expert in social media to look into it? anyway, good on her for sticking up for herself 
. Like, who wouldn't want to be impersonated online and have their rep dragged through the mud? 
It's like, how are they supposed to protect themselves from cyberbullies? University should really get on top of this issue ASAP 
, and not just slap some lip service about it 
. The fact that she had to fight for her spot back at uni is wild 
. And £98k ain't gonna cut it for the financial losses, fam 
. I feel so bad for this poor girl 
. More like, universities should be investing in cyberbullying prevention and digital literacy programs 
. This case is a major wake-up call 
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. Having experts on staff who know how to investigate online claims could make a huge difference 
. The university's process seems kinda arbitrary, just taking someone's word without verifying their identity first 
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. The university should really consider offering a full apology and some kind of compensation package 
, so it's up to institutions to make sure they're being more proactive about protecting their students' rights 
. And the student's mental health issues are totally legit 
. Maybe universities just need to step up their social media game (pun intended) to deal with these kinds of situations 
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the uni should be doing more to educate themselves on how to deal with online impersonation and cyberbullying.
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? but seriously, the fact that a university expelled her without even getting to know the facts is just outrageous. i think £98k is way too low tho, she lost a year of her life & has mental health issues to deal with... and a full apology would be nice 
the university should've taken more care in investigating the situation before jumping to conclusions... £98k is still a huge amount tho, i hope she gets some justice 
. And £98,000 damages seem way low considering all she went through... I feel bad for this girl, she must've been going through so much anxiety and stress already with mental health issues and now this 
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. They need to step up their game and learn how to handle these situations better