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Legal opinion needed (students suing SFU)


canuckbeliever

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For those of you that are unaware, there is a bitter battkle going between the SFU Teaching Assistants/Sessional Instructors union (TSSU) and SFU. TSSU wants more money, SFU will not give it so they have decided to go on strike

There has been escalating action in last 2 months and it is getting serious now. There is strong sspeculation among TA's that the union is going to go to a pass fail system for grades. So basically at the end of the semester, students will not get an actual GPA rather a pass or fail with there GPA staying stagnant at whatever it was. This causes issues for those of us working our tails off this semester trying to get our GPA up because all of that effort will not accredited. Rather the cumulative GPA will be the same as what it was at end of last semester.

The only thing that might save this from happening is if students decide to sue the university. One of my professors was telling me that he thinks SFU will cave in or work out a deal simply because SFU students would have a real case and would probably win any lawsuit that they threw to try toget their grades. He thinks SFU lawyers will realize the possibility for them to get burnt in any lawsuit thrown there way and as a result they will have to work out a deal. The basis for the lawsuit would be students saying there is an implied contract when we give our money to SFU. We give them money for them to give us grades and simply going to a pass fail system doesnt constitute as an actual grade

I need your folks opinion. Do you think students at SFU could win if they decided to sued the university for not getting there grades

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For those of you that are unaware, there is a bitter battkle going between the SFU Teaching Assistants/Sessional Instructors union (TSSU) and SFU. TSSU wants more money, SFU will not give it so they have decided to go on strike

There has been escalating action in last 2 months and it is getting serious now. There is strong sspeculation among TA's that the union is going to go to a pass fail system for grades. So basically at the end of the semester, students will not get an actual GPA rather a pass or fail with there GPA staying stagnant at whatever it was. This causes issues for those of us working our tails off this semester trying to get our GPA up because all of that effort will not accredited. Rather the cumulative GPA will be the same as what it was at end of last semester.

The only thing that might save this from happening is if students decide to sue the university. One of my professors was telling me that he thinks SFU will cave in or work out a deal simply because SFU students would have a real case and would probably win any lawsuit that they threw to try toget their grades. He thinks SFU lawyers will realize the possibility for them to get burnt in any lawsuit thrown there way and as a result they will have to work out a deal. The basis for the lawsuit would be students saying there is an implied contract when we give our money to SFU. We give them money for them to give us grades and simply going to a pass fail system doesnt constitute as an actual grade

I need your folks opinion. Do you think students at SFU could win if they decided to sue the university for not getting there grades

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If you got the right guy to do it then i don't see why not. You are paying ( a lot ) for a service that is sub par and can have negative impact on your future. If enrolling in school is any kind of a contract where you are held to certain standards, so should they. Very different but same principle as a teacher harassing a student, they have certain obligations.

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My sister is in Human resources at the office of faculty relations at UBC. She works directly with the Lawyers there and they are all following this situation very closely. The overall belief there is that the TSSU is going to be the first to blink.

If your thinking about taking legal action against the University the first course of action is always to go on message boards to talk to a bunch of nobodies about it.

How bout this: If you think your situation is actionable consult a lawyer.

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Lawyers always want money... when it's available.

Perhaps this thread should not have hinted that there was perhaps money available, then they are relative knights in shining armour, fighting on behalf of the common man for the greater good.

I cannot help you, but i certainly am sick of seeing students being used as pawns in labour disputes. Hopefully students' rights won't be ignored forever. Perhaps a shining knight lawyer will take up that cause and stoke up a class-action suit while they're at it.

Sadly, more will be said about this than done, as usual.

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