French
philosophy student fails, therefore he sues
Sat Jun 17, 10:46 AM ET
The nephew of a former Socialist minister has successfully sued the
French state after failing a philosophy exam because his teacher rarely
showed up in class.
In the first ruling of its kind in a country as protective of its
public employees as its intellectual roots, the student won his case
after his failure to recognise German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer
deprived him of a top graduate school place.
Jerome Charasse, whose uncle Michel Charasse served as budget minister
under late President Francois Mitterrand, scored a poor 6 out of 20 in
philosophy despite getting good grades in the rest of his baccalaureat
high school exams.
As a result he failed to get into the prestigious School of Political
Science.
"I am surprised that our public service should be so lacking," his
lawyer Gilles-Jean Portejoie told Reuters.
A court in Clermont-Ferrand ruled in his favour and awarded him the
right to damages which have yet to be set.