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Student accused of using AI in essays sues for disability discrimination

A student at the University of Michigan is suing for disability discrimination after she was accused of using AI in her essays — A student at the University of Michigan is suing for disability discrimination after she was accused of using AI in her essays (Getty/iStock)

A disabled University of Michigan student, identified as “Jane Doe”, has filed a federal lawsuit alleging discrimination after professors falsely accused her of using AI to write essays.
The lawsuit claims the university and instructors mistook symptoms of her obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and generalised anxiety disorder for signs of AI-generated content.
Despite providing medical documentation explaining how her disability affects her writing style, the student was reportedly overruled and blocked from graduating.
Her lawyers argue that the accusations were based on subjective judgments and “self-confirming 'AI comparison' outputs” and that the university failed to implement disability-informed accommodations.
The case highlights concerns about the accuracy of AI detection tools and follows similar lawsuits from other students who claim their original work was wrongly flagged as AI-generated.

University of Michigan student accused of using AI for college papers sues for disability discrimination — In full