AMIR A. AL-DABAGH, Plaintiff-Appellee,
v.
CASE WESTERN RESERVE UNIVERSITY, Defendant-Appellant
Argued: January 22, 2015
Appeal from the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio at Cleveland. No. 1:14-cv-01046--James S. Gwin, District Judge.
ARGUED:
John B. Nalbandian, TAFT STETTINIUS & HOLLISTER LLP, Cincinnati, Ohio, for Appellant.
Peter A. Holdsworth, WEGMAN, HESSLER & VANDERBURG, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellee.
ON BRIEF:
John B. Nalbandian, TAFT STETTINIUS & HOLLISTER LLP, Cincinnati, Ohio, David H. Wallace, Jennifer B. Orr, TAFT STETTINIUS & HOLLISTER LLP, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellant.
Peter A. Holdsworth, Christopher A. Holecek, Patrick J. Quallich, WEGMAN, HESSLER & VANDERBURG, Cleveland, Ohio, for Appellee.
Before: BATCHELDER, SUTTON, and COOK, Circuit Judges.
OPINION
Page 356
SUTTON, Circuit Judge.
Authority to decide whether a medical student deserves a degree usually rests with the student's school. In this unusual case, that did not happen. A federal district court found that Amir Al-Dabagh had proven himself worthy of a diploma and
Page 357
ordered Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine to give him one--disregarding the university's determination that he lacked the professionalism required to discharge his duties responsibly. Because that lack-of-professionalism finding amounts to an academic ...