WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. – A former Florida Atlantic University medical student claims she suffered “widespread harassment” for years leading up to her dismissal from the university’s medical program.
Plaintiff Lillian Hassanein filed her lawsuit in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida.
The named defendants include Florida Atlantic and the university’s board of trustees, which serves as the governing body for FAU and its Charles E. Schmidt College of Medicine.
“Defendants ultimately dismissed Plaintiff from the medical program by relying on academic and professionalism concerns that were shaped by years of unaddressed harassment, disability-related barriers, retaliatory proceedings, confidentiality breaches, due process violations, and disparate treatment,” the lawsuit states.
“The dismissal was not a neutral consequence of independent academic judgment; it was the culmination of Defendants’ failure to provide a safe, nondiscriminatory, and accessible learning environment, followed by their use of the resulting record to exclude Plaintiff from the program.”
In her 37-page complaint, Hassanein contends FAU’s reliance on her academic deficiencies, professionalism proceedings, and alleged lack of accountability was pretextual and materially false.
“Defendants failed to separate protected reporting activity and disability-related symptoms from legitimate academic assessment,” the lawsuit states.
“The same administrators and processes that received Plaintiff’s reports, denied or delayed requested protections, disclosed or failed to protect confidential information, and characterized her safety concerns as disruptive later participated in, influenced, or supplied information for proceedings that resulted in adverse academic and professionalism consequences.”
In her complaint, Hassanein contends professors, school officials, and even FAU’s police department failed repeatedly to respond to her requests, including emails, for help.
Often, instead of support, she was met with “perverse comments” or was mocked for her hardships, she alleges.
Hassanein’s allegations stem from a July 2020 group chat, according to her lawsuit. She enrolled in FAU’s medical college that year.
She claims she reported misconduct in violation of school policies, including discriminatory remarks, harassment, threats, cheating, and mistreatment, described in the group chat.
She also alleges in her lawsuit that she was stalked, and assaulted, by a fellow medical student because she had rejected her advances.
Despite repeatedly asking not to be assigned with that student or other students who were allegedly harassing her, Hassanein claims FAU officials perceived her request as a “disturbance.”
“Plaintiff identified that this was a significant factor contributing to the development and exacerbation of her post-traumatic stress disorder, as her entitlement to a safe environment was persistently denied and ridiculed,” her complaint states.
After receiving a failing grade in her Neurology class, Hassanein allegedly contacted school officials to inquire whether it could be omitted from her academic transcript, pointing to the “ongoing adversity” she faced.
“Plaintiff asserted that she was deprived of the same opportunity to focus on her studies as her peers, owing to being actively subjected to stalking, the lack of response to her multiple emails to the administration, and the obstruction of her Title IX rights,” the lawsuit states.
The university failed to respond, she alleges.
In September 2021, Hassanein claims she decided to withdraw due to personal matters and safety concerns.
“This decision was necessary because she did not feel secure due to harassment and the University’s failure to provide effective protection and uphold the student code of conduct,” the suit states. “Plaintiff believed it was safer to withdraw and forfeit the tuition fees than to risk remaining in an unsafe environment.”
Hassanein eventually re-enrolled. In April 2024, she began her third-year clinical curriculum with a new class and initially received good evaluations from outpatient attendings.
A few months later, a classmate informed her that her alleged stalker was still speaking cruelly about her, despite them having no contact in years.
“Defendants took no meaningful disciplinary action regarding this ongoing abuse,” the suit states.
At this time, a classmate also informed her that her alleged stalker had been placed on a rotation with her despite her requests to be separated for safety reasons.
Hassanein was eventually dismissed from the medical program by FAU, which cited academic and professionalism concerns.
The university argued Hassanein had access to mentors, her lawsuit claims.
But Hassanein said that does not resolve whether FAU provided equal access, reasonable accommodations, or a fair process.
“General access to faculty advisors was not a substitute for effective protective measures, disability-informed support, confidentiality, unbiased evaluations, or meaningful remediation of hostile educational conditions,” her complaint states.
“Nor did the existence of mentors permit Defendants to disregard Plaintiff’s reports, characterize her safety concerns as a disruption, or use resulting academic and professionalism consequences as grounds for dismissal.”
Hassanein seeks a declaration that FAU violated her rights under Title IX, Title II of the Americans with Disabilities Act, Section 504 anti-retaliation provisions, and the Fourteenth Amendment.
She also seeks an injunction requiring FAU to reinstate her to the medical school program, or otherwise restore her access with “reasonable accommodations, effective supportive measures, corrected or contextualized records as necessary, and nonretaliatory conditions necessary for equal access.”
She also asks the federal court for an injunction requiring FAU to correct, remove, seal, or expunge her dismissal and any other adverse academic, disciplinary, evaluation, and/or educational records affected by the university’s discrimination, retaliation, failure to accommodate, or breach of their policies.
In addition, Hassanein seeks compensatory damages, including damages for emotional distress, educational disruption, loss of access and opportunity to fair and equal education, financial loss, reputational harm, and loss of career opportunities; reimbursement for tuition, fees, educational delay, and other financial harm caused by FAU’s conduct; pre- and post-judgment interest; and attorney fees.
Stewart Lee Karlin Law Group PC in Fort Lauderdale is representing her in the lawsuit.
The case has been assigned to Judge Ed Artau.
