Lawsuit over UofC’s Psychology Department settled before trial

Just over a week before it was scheduled to go to trial a settlement has been reached in federal lawsuit filed against the University of the Cumberlands over a job offer in the psychology department.

A notice of settlement was filed Monday in U.S. District Court in London in the one remaining count of the lawsuit. In that count, Sameer Suhail of Tinley Park, Ill. claims breech of an oral agreement for employment with the university. Suhail claimed that while he was attending classes as part of the university’s fledgling Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology Program, he was offered a position as an assistant professor that was later rescinded without justification.

The case had been scheduled to go to trial Sept. 9 in U.S. District Court in Frankfort.

In the settlement documents, John F. Kelly, Jr., the attorney for the university, requested that the trial be cancelled.

Kelly said under the terms of the agreement, neither side may comment on the details of the settlement.

U.S. District Court Judge Gregory VanTatenhove signed the order later Monday.

In the lawsuit filed on June 21, 2013, Saheer Suhail and Omar Suhail, of Palos Hills, Ill. alleged that the duo had been recruited to the start-up program at the university in order to fulfill the educational licensure requirements mandated in 37 states.

That portion of the lawsuit was dismissed on May 25 in a memorandum opinion and order from VanTatenhove in response to a motion for summary judgment filed on behalf of the university.

The plaintiffs were recruited to the program by Dr. Peter Geissler, who was then employed by the university as a professor of psychology. Geissler had sent a mass email to various students who had attended St. Christopher’s College of Medicine in Cambridge, England.

The requirements to complete the program were listed in the 2011-12-course catalog. Sameer and Omar Suhail used those requirements as a guideline toward completing the required coursework.

“That on or about February 2013, and only a few months away from completion of the final semester of the program, Dr. Sameer and Dr. Omar were informed by the university that the university had added additional requirements to the program coursework that must be completed in order for the plaintiffs to finish the program and receive their degree and licensure,” the lawsuit states, noting the changes were substantial from that listed in the 2011-12 course catalog.

As a result of the changes, which precluded them from receiving their licensure, Sameer and Omar Suhail claimed they lost more than $400,000.

In the response to the lawsuit, UC officials denied any wrongdoing.

In a memorandum opinion and order filed May 25, VanTatenhove agreed regarding plaintiffs’ allegations that the university had added requirements at the last minute.

VanTatenhove noted that university officials began having doubts concerning Dr. Geissler’s management of the program during the 2011-12 year and asked Dr. Owen Nichols, a member of the Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology, to review the program’s curriculum that Geissler had been responsible for developing.

“Dr. Nichols informed the University that the program did not satisfy Kentucky’s licensure requirements and recommended changes in the program so that students graduating from the program would actually be qualified for licensure in the Commonwealth,” VanTatenhove stated.

The University did not renew Dr. Geissler’s contract and updated the course catalog for the 2012-13 academic year, adding requirements of an 1800-hour internship, additional courses and a competency examination.

The following statement was added to the catalog concerning licensure requirements.

“The Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology degree program offered by University of the Cumberlands fulfills the educational licensure requirements for the state of Kentucky, It is our goal to provide the educational licensure requirements for many additional states. It is up to the student to contact their interested state Board of Psychology to inquire if we meet their educational standards.”

VanTatenhove noted that while the Suhails contend that they did not learn of the changes until February 2013, an email dated Oct. 22, 2012 was sent to students in the Ph.D. programs denoting the changes to the Clinical Psychology Ph.D. Program.
VanTatenhove declined to dismiss Sameer Suhail’s claim that the university offered him a position as, “Assistant Professor of Psychology,” but later rescinded the offer, which was renewable annually upon the consent of both parties.

“Dr. Suhail accepted this offer and, as a result, could only have been discharged with cause,” VanTatenhove stated, noting it would be for a jury to determine whether Sameer Suhail was unqualified for the position as the University contends.