S-16-0717, Kelly Armstrong v. Clarkson College (Appellant)
District Court for Douglas County, Judge Marlon A. Polk
Attorneys: Brien M. Welch & Kathryn J. Cheatle (Cassem, Tierney, Adams, Gotch & Douglas) (Appellant) --- Jason M. Bruno & Robert S. Sherrets (Sherrets Bruno & Vogt, LLC)
Civil: Breach of contract
Proceedings Below: Following a jury trial, Appellee was awarded a verdict in the amount of $1,000,000.
Issues: 1) The court erred in denying Appellant's Motions for Directed Verdict as the decisions at issue were academic judgments and there was no evidence to support a finding that Appellant acted arbitrarily or capriciously. Accordingly, the court should have given deference to Appellant's academic judgments and entered judgment in its favor as a matter of law, 2) the court abused its discretion in not allowing discussion of Appellee's plagiarism as her act of plagiarism was relevant to Appellant in rendering the decisions at issue, 3) the court erred in not instructing the jury on the affirmative defense of failure to fulfill a condition precedent, 5) the court erred in not instructing the jury on the affirmative defense of impossibility of performance, 6) the court erred in not instructing the jury on the affirmative defense of mitigation of damages, and 7) the court erred in not granting Appellant's Motion to Set Aside Verdict Or, In the Alternative, Motion for New Trial which would have corrected the failure of the court in denying Appellant's Motions for Directed Verdict and/or failure in prohibiting discussion of Appellee’s plagiarism and/or failure(s) in refusing to give jury instruction(s) on the affirmative defenses of failure to fulfill a condition precedent, impossibility of performance, and mitigation of damages.