Roll On Friday
A barrister is suing Cambridge University for “substantial damages” after he failed his PhD.
Jacob Meagher was informed in April 2023 that he had flunked the final oral examination element of his doctoral thesis.
The examination panel indicated that he should be allowed to revise and resubmit his thesis, but instead the barrister of 1EC Chambers called upon his professional expertise in the field of disability discrimination and sued five members of staff and the University.
Meagher’s claim for disability discrimination, victimisation under the Equality Act, breach of contract and breach of the common law duty of care sought damages on the basis that the non-completion of his PhD “led to the lost opportunity to take up a tenancy as a barrister at a particular set of chambers” resulting in “a substantial loss of earnings”.
Before the latest case, Meagher brought Equality Act proceedings against two other Cambridge professors and restarted his PhD in 2019 as part of the settlement.
The barrister claimed that following that settlement he was subjected to a number of “detriments” in the course of his studies, including the provision of a single supervisor who wasn’t part of the law faculty, and the withholding of a PhD advisor.
Under Cambridge University’s rules for obtaining a PhD, candidates must produce a written thesis of around 100,000 words and submit themselves to a ‘viva voce’ in which two examiners pepper them with questions about their magnum opus to assess their suitability for a doctorate.
Meagher, who is representing himself, claimed that disabilities which he declined to disclose to the media meant he was “less able than other candidates of the same ability to produce a singular lengthy and multifaceted piece of work such as a PhD thesis”.
He said it was the university’s duty “to take such steps as were reasonable to avoid these disadvantages”, which could have included assessing his suitability for a PhD without requiring him to produce a thesis.
The University’s Disability Resource Centre had also made a list of recommendations for the conduct of Meagher’s viva which wasn’t provided to his examiners, meaning “their attention had not been drawn to the disabilities and need for adjustments”.
It advised the examiners to signpost questions by reference to specific parts of Meagher’s thesis, rather than by asking him questions in general terms, phrase questions in the active rather than the passive voice, and allow him breaks after questions “in order to allow him to mentally retrieve the words or information that he needed in order to answer the questions”.
Meagher successfully obtained an injunction against the University in July 2024 which prevented it from taking any steps in relation to his PhD without consent until the proceedings ended or a relevant order was given.
After the initial 2024 hearing, his application to sue the five academics was dismissed, as were two aspects of his breach of contract claim, but Meagher appealed.
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https://www.rollonfriday.com/news-content/barrister-sues-cambridge-university-after-failing-phd
