When Can Students Sue For Breach Of Contract?

The law regarding a court's involvement in the student/ university relationship has seen significant changes in the last decade, particularly with respect to the level of deference that is accorded to so-called academic matters.

What follows is a summary of this development and a brief discussion of resulting practical issues.

1. HISTORICAL APPROACH

   Historically, the court would look at the plaintiff's case and ask a threshold question: "Is the claim being advanced academic in nature?" Irrespective of the remedy being sought, claims that were academic in nature were routinely dealt with by summary judgment, in favour of universities; the courts were reluctant to take jurisdiction over such matters.

   In Gauthier v Saint Germain,1 however, the Court of Appeal for Ontario challenged this notion by emphasizing the importance of the remedy being sought by the plaintiff. The Court of Appeal wrote: "when the desired legal remedy aims to modify an internal academic decision made by university authorities, the appropriate option remains judicial review... when an action alleges tort or a breach of contract for the purposes of claiming damages, it follows that the court has jurisdiction to hear the case."

   Post-Gauthier, courts have considered the remedy being sought by the plaintiff as a driving factor in determining the court's jurisdiction over the matter. If a plaintiff's action is grounded in contract or tort and seeks damages, courts have been far more open to assuming jurisdiction, regardless of the academic nature of the claim

2. RECENT CASE LAW

   Post-Gauthier, courts seem to be moving further away from the historical approach. This can be seen in the following two decisions: Tapics v Dalhousie University2 and Lam v University of Western Ontario. 3

   TAPICS V DALHOUSIE UNIVERSITY

   The issues of deference and jurisdiction were put to the test in a case involving claims made by a Ph.D. candidate (Tara Tapics) against Dalhousie University ("University") in the Supreme Court of Nova Scotia.

   Ms. Tapics began her Ph.D. studies in January 2011, working on a leatherback turtle project in the Department of Oceanography. After a series of difficulties with the external collaborator and committee member, predominantly related to data access, the remainder of Ms. Tapics' committee recommended that her work on the leatherback turtle project come to an end in June 2018.

   Ms. Tapics agreed, and she thereafter changed the focus of her studies to right whales under...