August 17, 2009
Judge Tom
1

Does a high school or college education guaranty you a job?

Apparently, Trina Thompson of New York City thinks so.  The 27-year-old graduated in April, 2009 from Monroe College with a degree in information technology. The business school in the Bronx prides itself in providing career-development support during and after graduation.

worksearchthinkpublic

Photo by Think Public (Flickr)

Ms. Thompson, however, disagrees, claiming the school hasn’t tried hard enough to help her find a job. She filed a lawsuit in July, 2009, against the school asking for return of her $70,000 tuition expenses, and $2,000 for the stress she’s endured looking for work. The school responds that the suit is without merit.

You can read Trina Thompson’s complaint that was filed in court.

What do you think? Have you ever heard of a case like this? How much, if any, responsibility does a school have regarding your future once you graduate? Although most schools have job placement offices, should they be held liable when you don’t land a job right away? Should the state of the economy be taken into consideration? Since the country is currently seeing over 9% unemployment, is Ms. Thompson’s school at fault because of a weak economy?

Judge Tom

The Author Judge Tom

Judge Tom is the founder and moderator of AsktheJudge.info. He is a retired juvenile judge and spent 23 years on the bench. He has written several books for lawyers and judges as well as teens and parents including 'Teen Cyberbullying Investigated' (Free Spirit Publishing) and 'Every Vote Matters: the Power of Your Voice, from Student Elections to the Supreme Court' (Free Spirit Publishing). In 2020, the American Bar Association published "Cyberbullying Law," the nation's first case-law book written for lawyers, judges and law students. When he's not answering teens' questions, Judge Tom volunteers with the American Red Cross and can be found hiking, traveling and reading.

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1 Comment

  • KellyAnn
    November 23, 2009 8:27 pm count( 0 )

    I think that schools should help students find jobs/collages but they arn’t responsible for insuring that you have a job. If you barly pass high school or collage and don’t want to takr the time to be presentible or apply then it is most definatly not your schools fault! The economy is such that it’s especiallty difficult for young people to find employment, and that is not the schools fault either. However if the student is needy then steps could be taken to help them out. You future is your responsibility… sometimes things happen that are totally out of your control (liek a bad economy) but that dosent mean your school needs to support you, thats not what schools are for. This si just foolish, many many young people don’t find the job they want directly out of school, maybe she shouldn’t be so picky or something except blame her school….
    Thanks, KellyAnn, for your thoughts.