Student Sues School Over Botched Reference Letters To Us Varsities

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A Form 6 student hauled an international boarding school to court over the purported bungling of letters of recommendation that led to his rejection by 15 premier universities in the United States.
The 21-year-old and his parents filed the writ of summons at the Kuala Lumpur High Court on Jan 3, targeting the school in Negeri Sembilan as well as four other defendants.
According to cause papers sighted by Malaysiakini, he claimed the improperly-made recommendation letters resulted in 15 US universities - including Harvard, Stanford, and Yale - rejecting his admission applications last March.
The aspiring student of higher learning said he only succeeded in his applications to three other US universities - Washington University, University of California in San Diego, and University of California in Davis - due to them having no requirement for letters of recommendation.
He claimed the defendants failed to ensure the recommendation letters were signed by teachers who had personal interactions with him during his studies at the school.
The resident of Taman Seputeh, Kuala Lumpur, alleged the bungling contravened the requirements of multiple US universities for qualified persons and legal employees to sign off on the recommendation letters of applicants.
‘Unethical practices’
The scholarship holder alleged that the defendants committed a breach of contract for failing to provide appropriate assistance for his admission bids to US universities, as well as allowing unethical practices of copying and pasting a standardised template as content for recommendation letters.
The applicant, who claimed to have been an academically excellent Form 6 student from August 2018 to July 2020, contended that the defendants’ negligence torpedoed his future career opportunities and potential future income.
The three plaintiffs seek multiple reliefs, including general, aggravated, exemplary, and special damages.
The family seeks several declarations, among them that the defendants have committed breaches of contract and committed negligence.
The trio also seeks a mandatory injunction to compel the defendants to prepare and deliver a written statement to the US universities to explain and admit to the alleged mistakes and negligence.
On Jan 12, the five defendants entered an appearance in the lawsuit through their counsel from the law firm Azman Davidson & Co.
The family is represented by counsel Marcus Lee.
Parties in the legal dispute are not named due to a request from the family over the sensitivity of the matter, and pending Malaysiakini's attempt to reach out to the defendants' legal team for a response. - Mkini

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