The student said a university breached a contract with him when it dismissed him from the school. But something very important was missing from his lawsuit.

Khem Bissessur said that while he was a graduate student at the Indiana University School of Optometry, he received a grade of “incomplete” for a course because a professor refused to let him take an exam. He also said he was arbitrarily assigned sub-par grades. After receiving a failing grade in a rotation, Bissessur was dismissed from the university.

Bissessur sued, claiming breach of an implied contract and violation of his due process and equal protection rights.

A federal appeals court upheld a ruling for the school’s board of trustees and other defendants.

The school’s catalogues, bulletins, circulars and regulations can help prove the existence of a contract, the court said. And a right established by a contract can be a constitutionally protected property interest, it added.

But Bissessur made the fatal mistake of failing to point to any specific promise the school made to him. His complaint’s recitations regarding his contract claim stated only bare legal conclusions – and that was not enough.

Cite: Bissessur v. Indiana University Board of Trustees

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Tags: breach of contract, constitutional rights, Indiana University