The plaintiff, a former dental student, sued the University of Toronto and individual professors for breach of contract, negligence, and breach of fiduciary duty following her withdrawal from an Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery and Anaesthesia program due to substandard academic performance.
The defendants moved for summary judgment, arguing the court lacked jurisdiction over academic matters, the plaintiff had resolved the dispute by voluntarily withdrawing from the program without academic penalty, and the claim was statute-barred by the Limitations Act.
The court granted summary judgment, dismissing the action on all three grounds.
It found that the essential character of the plaintiff's claims related to academic evaluation, which falls under the exclusive jurisdiction of the University's internal appeal process.
Furthermore, the court determined that the plaintiff's acceptance of the offer to withdraw without academic penalty constituted a binding agreement to resolve her academic dispute, precluding a subsequent action.
Finally, the court held that the plaintiff had sufficient knowledge of the facts to commence her claim by June 2009 at the latest, making her September 2011 action outside the two-year limitation period.
