Abalkhail v. Claremont University Center

Case No. B014012 (1986)

From our private database of 46,300+ case briefs, written and edited by humans—never with AI.

Abalkhail v. Claremont University Center

California Court of Appeal
Case No. B014012 (1986)

  • Written by Mike Begovic, JD

Facts

Sulaiman Abalkhail (plaintiff) received a PhD in government from the Claremont Graduate School (CGS), which was part of the Claremont University Center (Claremont) (defendant). A year after awarding Abalkhail his PhD, CGS received a letter from the director of the Arab Planning Institute (the institute), Abdullah Ali, a resident of Kuwait. Ali stated that Abalkhail’s dissertation had been copied from a seminar paper written by another member of the institute, which had been published as a chapter in a book one year prior to the publication of Abalkhail’s dissertation. CGS appointed a subcommittee to investigate the charges. The subcommittee compared the two publications and determined they were mostly identical. Abalkhail received a letter from CGS notifying him of the charges and that a formal hearing would be held, which he would be allowed to attend and participate in. The letter informed Abalkhail that his PhD might be revoked if the committee determined that his dissertation was plagiarized. Abalkhail received a copy of the letter sent by Ali and defended his dissertation in a letter to CGS. Abalkhail’s defense was that he worked for the institute and had made substantial contributions to the seminar paper that was published, so he believed that he could draw on that work for his dissertation. Abalkhail was present at the hearing, but Ali was not. Ali was subsequently contacted and interviewed by the subcommittee, and he contradicted Abalkhail’s claim that Abalkhail had contributed to the seminar paper. The subcommittee ultimately decided to revoke Abalkhail’s PhD, concluding the charges of plagiarism were substantiated. Abalkhail’s filed suit, alleging a violation of due process. A district court denied Abalkhail’s request for a writ of mandate on his due-process claim, and he appealed.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning ()

What to do next…

  1. Unlock this case brief with a free (no-commitment) trial membership of Quimbee.

    You’ll be in good company: Quimbee is one of the most widely used and trusted sites for law students, serving more than 804,000 law students since 2011. Some law schools—such as Yale, Berkeley, and Northwestern—even subscribe directly to Quimbee for all their law students.

    Unlock this case briefRead our student testimonials
  2. Learn more about Quimbee’s unique (and proven) approach to achieving great grades at law school.

    Quimbee is a company hell-bent on one thing: helping you get an “A” in every course you take in law school, so you can graduate at the top of your class and get a high-paying law job. We’re not just a study aid for law students; we’re the study aid for law students.

    Learn about our approachRead more about Quimbee

Here's why 804,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:

  • Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
  • The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
  • Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
  • Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership
Here's why 804,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
  • Reliable - written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students
  • The right length and amount of information - includes the facts, issue, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents
  • Access in your class - works on your mobile and tablet
  • 46,300 briefs - keyed to 988 casebooks
  • Uniform format for every case brief
  • Written in plain English - not in legalese and not just repeating the court's language
  • Massive library of related video lessons - and practice questions
  • Top-notch customer support

Access this case brief for FREE

With a 7-day free trial membership