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campusreview.com.au
Photo: Brendan Radke
JCU blamed for drop in sex drive
Student sues university over
damage to career and love life.
By Kate Prendergast
A
lleging James Cook University is
in a “conspiracy” to ruin his career,
a PhD philosophy student is suing
the university for $3.125 million in damages
and compensation.
In a 20-page petition submitted to the
Supreme Court of Queensland, 52-year‑old
Kuldeep Mann claims the university’s
plagiarism charge against him is false, and
that the supervision provided for his $20,000
PhD was “inadequate”.
Having obtained a fail grade on two
social science subjects, he was not seen
to meet the entry requirements of the
four‑year PhD course.
The “trick pulled” by the university has
“ruined” his reputation and career, Mann
claims, and “prolonged harassment” by
JCU has caused irreparable damage to his
mental health and personal wellbeing –
including his sex drive.
“I have no sex drive. There is no
stimulation in my organs. I have never
had this problem before,” the Courier Mail
2
reported Mann to have said, adding that
his relationship with his partner was at risk
of collapse.
Appearing on Nine News, Mann said he
had “no such desire” to “share a bed with
my partner”.
“The JCU had enrolled me into the PhD
program just to mint thousands of dollars,”
Mann told radio program SBS Punjabi.
“I have lost my reputation in the
community and among all those who
know me personally. They do often ask
me about the status of my PhD, and I
have got no answer to offer.”
The case was initially put to an internal
investigation by JCU, with the university’s
appeals panel ruling the matter should be
resolved in the student’s best interests.
Mann was dissatisfied with the outcome
of this process, however, claiming that
the $52,576 in compensation offered was
“too little”.
He also put forward a bid to have the
matter investigated by the Queensland
ombudsman.
“It had pushed me to the throes of
depression, and I am still fighting to come
out of mental agony,” Mann said.
The student, a former Indian journalism
correspondent and editor who now works
at a 7/11 store in Melbourne, claims he has
lost all motivation to pursue a future as a
social scientist.
Responding to the student’s Supreme
Court application, the university’s lawyer
informed Mann that his claim would not
hold up under court procedure.
“Your claim does not comply with rule
171 in that: it contains unnecessary or
scandalous allegations; it is frivolous or
vexatious; it is otherwise an abuse of the
process of the court,” Mathew Deighton,
a partner with Colin Biggers & Paisley
Lawyers, wrote in a letter to the claimant.
Given the case is yet to be heard in
Queensland’s Supreme Court, JCU has
declined to comment on the matter.
The JCU had enrolled me
into the PhD program just to
mint thousands of dollars.
The university is applying for a court
order to have the claim struck off, with
Mann made to bear the legal cost.
At time of writing, Mann had yet to find a
lawyer to help him argue his case, and was
seeking free legal aid. ■