Academic failure: a student demands $1.2 million from Laval University

Dissatisfied with having failed an internship, which prevented her from continuing her training, a student from the Faculty of Dentistry at Laval University is suing the establishment.

Athénaïs Collard is claiming $1.2 million, believing she was unfairly excluded from the specialized periodontics program.

A law firm filed an application to initiate proceedings in the Superior Court, on behalf of the young woman of French origin.

She left everything behind to settle in Quebec in the spring of 2022, with the aim of practicing periodontics in North America after completing her training at Laval University.

Her suit states that she had obtained a degree in dentistry from the CESPU University of Portugal, in December 2020, after six years of higher education.

Moving

She therefore moved to Quebec after being admitted as a resident to the specialized periodontics program at Laval University, which informed her that her training would begin in May 2022.

With astonishment, she said she understood that her real training would not finally begin until the fall.

The purpose of her trip was obviously not to do tourism, the plaintiff was therefore very disappointed to have unnecessarily interrupted, much too early, her professional activities in France.

It should be noted that the allegations in support of this lawsuit have not yet been proven in Court and that Laval University has still not had the opportunity to contest them.

“Serious gap”

Athénaïs Collard will therefore begin her clinical internship in September.

She maintains that she did not receive any written lesson plan and that she was therefore unable to know what were the objectives of the training, expectations And the level of competence she was expected to achieve.

Despite this important and serious gapwrite her lawyers in their request, the student would have devoted herself to training to the best of his ability.

At the end of this internship in December, the student would not have received any feedback both positive and negative from his supervisors, nor even a final evaluation.

She will therefore continue her postdoctoral training with a second internship, in 2023, without further benefiting from a course plan and objectives to achieve, she alleges.

Everything is falling apart

After passing an exam in March allowing him to perform more major surgeries, his petition states, everything fell apart the following month.

On April 3, 2023, Athénaïs Collard said she was summoned Unexpectedly by the supervisor and director of the periodontics program, Doctor Reginaldo Gonçalves.

The student then found herself in front of Dr. Gonçalves and two of her colleagues. According to the suit, the supervisor then notified him unceremoniously that she failed her internship, three weeks before it even ended.

Stunned and in shock, she can barely speak, write the student’s lawyers. According to the suit, she asked for a written assessment and explanation, which she allegedly did not get Reginaldo Gonçalves giving him only a few highly questionable reasons.

In tears and shocked

All the surgeries scheduled on his schedule and which were part of his training would also have been canceled.

The student walked out of this meeting shaken, in tears and shocked to learn of their failure even before the end of their internship, without having obtained a written evaluation beforehand who could have alerted him or indicated to him that he needed to improve his academic performance.

The student was subsequently excluded from a meeting of the dental promotion committee, where she could, according to the lawsuit, have expressed her point of view.

This way of proceeding slyly and opaquelyaccording to its lawyers, would be contrary to the requirements of the internal rules of Laval University, provided for in the Student Bill of Rights.

Confirmed failure

Athénaïs Collard nevertheless continued her internship, while contesting her failing grade. She was also able to resume her surgeries which had been suspended.

In May, however, its failure will be made official. According to Ms. Collard’s claims, Dr. Gonçalves had then, without her knowledge, added a written evaluation sheet to her student file, which she learned several months later.

By acting in this way, Dr. Gonçalves did not respect the University’s directives, according to the suit, in addition to depriving Athénaïs Collard of the entire grade review process.

Her attempts to appeal failed, so the young woman was excluded from the periodontics program.

However, she remained enrolled in the master’s program in dental sciences which she followed at the same time. His academic performance in this program are also very satisfactory and in compliance with the expectations of their supervisorsindicate her lawyers, specifying that she has the final note HASon March 22.

She has also just passed the prerequisite examination by the American authorities to obtain a right to practice as a dentist anywhere in the United States.

“Treated unfairly”

On the other hand, the young woman suffered considerable harm having no other choice but to give up a career as a dentist specializing in periodontics anywhere in the world, write his lawyers.

The student criticizes the University for having treated unfairly and abusively while Dr. Gonçalves chose to get rid of of her.

She is therefore claiming $1 million from the University, an amount most of which would cover her loss of future income estimated at $835,000.

The student also estimates that she was deprived of $287,691 in income during her study period, which she also claims.

In addition, she is seeking reimbursement of her tuition and travel expenses, as well as $50,000 for damage to her reputation.

As the dispute is being brought before the courts, Laval University preferred not to provide any details on this matter.

Athénaïs Collard and the ML Avocats office in Montreal which represents her did not return our requests for interviews.