White Student's Racial Discrimination Case Against Howard Law School Goes Forward

Following up on my previous post, White Student's Discrimination Case Against Howard Law School Survives:  Bloomberg Law, Howard University Law School Narrows Ex-Student’s Race Bias Suit:

A White former Howard University School of Law student alleging that he was subject to a racially hostile environment can advance some claims towards discovery, a federal judge ruled.

Michael Newman said he raised the ire of his classmates and Howard administrators starting with October 2020 chat room comments questioning why Black people, in his mind, “believe government solves problems” and whether reliably voting for Democrats discouraged both parties from addressing the needs of Black communities. Newman said the resulting uproar inflicted “mental and emotional distress” that impacted his ability to maintain the required academic performance to keep his $26,250 scholarship, which he lost after his first semester.

Newman—who sent a not-well received apology letter to classmates in which he compared himself to Malcolm X—was eventually expelled. He filed a pro se lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia, alleging that the historically black university violated various federal and local laws.

“Permitting many of Newman’s claims to go forward would be futile,” Judge Trevor N. McFadden wrote Wednesday in an opinion allowing Newman to amend his lawsuit with respect to some claims.

“But some of Newman’s claims deserve being heard,” McFadden said, namely some defamation and breach of contract claims. Howard didn’t oppose the addition of a claim under Section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act, which will advance to discovery unlike his other racial discrimination claims.

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