Sex offender suing HFCC for kicking him out

7-31-2012 Michigan:

A former student is suing Henry Ford Community College for kicking him out after administrators learned he was on the state’s sex offender registry.

Michael Branch says in the suit that he attended the college in the spring and fall of 2010 and was mid-way through the winter 2011 semester when he received a letter saying he could not continue his enrollment, effective immediately. Branch, a Wayne County resident, was studying for a degree in heating, ventilation and air-conditioning.

The letter he received from the college said attending HFCC violated his parole, which required him to stay more than 1,000 feet away from a school with students in kindergarten through 12th grade or 2,500 feet from of a daycare or preschool, according to the suit. A daycare/preschool sits on the main campus, and high school students attend HFCC through dual enrollment.

Branch was paroled in 2010. In 2004 he had “consensual intercourse” with a girl who said she was 19 when she was only 15, the suit says. That conviction put him on the sex offender registry for life.

His parole officer knew he was attending college, and Branch managed perfect attendance and a 3.7 grade point average for his two semesters, according to the suit.

Branch’s attorney, Shaun Godwin, initially filed the suit in June in Wayne County Circuit Court. An August motion asks to move the case to federal court because it deals, in part, with discrimination under the 14th Amendment.

Branch also is arguing HFCC committed a breach of contract. The suit says the college denied him his due process rights when he was not allowed to have a hearing or otherwise appeal the expulsion decision by Lisa Jones Harris. Harris, vice president of student affairs, is named as a co-defendant.

Jones-Harris allegedly told Branch he should have disclosed his conviction, but the suit argues HFCC’s application form does not ask for such information and nothing in the Student Code of Conduct addresses the matter.

The 14th Amendment protects students from being sanctioned on the basis of “unconstitutionally vague rules,” the suit says.

Branch’s parole expired in May 2011, but he was told he was not allowed to reapply to the school, the suit says. His student loans are coming due and he cannot complete his degree. HVAC credits do not transfer to other schools, and he is hesitant now to try enrolling elsewhere, the suit says.

The suit seeks Branch’s reinstatement at the school and monetary damages.

No one from Henry Ford Community College returned a call asking for comment on the lawsuit. ..Source.. by Katie Hetrick