Court Annuls Private College's Expulsion and Finds it was Arbitrary and Capricious.

Alisa Warner was a full-time student at Elmira College, a private college located in Elmira, New York. The College received a confidential tip that Warner was in possession of drugs, specifically cocaine, which she kept in her dormitory room. As a result, the College's director of residential life and other College staff conducted a search of Warner's room, at which time they discovered a white powder under a computer on Warner's desk. The College's director of campus security conducted a field test on the white powder and allegedly obtained a positive result for cocaine.

The College's disciplinary policies provided for a hearing, as well as an administrative appeal of any disciplinary decisions. After Warner's hearing, the College's Discipline Committee found that Warner had violated the College's drug policy and determined that expulsion was the appropriate discipline. Warner then underwent an administrative appeal with the College's president, who denied the appeal and upheld the expulsion.

Warner then petitioned the New York Supreme Court, which is New York's court of first review, to annul the College's discipline. The Supreme Court dismissed Warner's petition and Warner appealed.

The Appellate Court began its analysis by confirming that when reviewing a private university's disciplinary determinations concerning students, a court is to determine whether the college substantially adhered to its published rules and guidelines for disciplinary proceedings. This is to determine whether the college's disciplinary actions were arbitrary or capricious. In this case, Warner presented evidence that a positive cocaine test has three steps - the second step produces a pink color and the third step produces a pink over blue color sequence. Under this test, a pink color is not presumptively positive for cocaine.

The College argued that Warner was unable to prove that the final color pattern was not seen during the College's field test. The Court found, however, that the testing form submitted by the College indicated that the color was pink only. As such, the Court found that the testing form was ambiguous as to whether Warren actually possessed cocaine. Accordingly, the Court determined that it was arbitrary and capricious for the School to rely on ambiguous testing to expel Warren and annulled the College's discipline determination.

Note:This case was decided in New York and as such, is not binding in California. However, this case underscores the basic "fundamental fairness" standard required for disciplinary policies for private schools and colleges. It also reinforces the principle that private schools' disciplinary decisions must not be arbitrarily made. One factor used by courts in reviewing disciplinary determinations is whether private schools adhere to their student handbooks or other policies with regard to student discipline. This case highlights a second factor that the evidence reviewed or considered under the procedures must support the decision.