Yes, you read that right. Valencia College in Orlando, FL was slapped with a lawsuit that alleges medical diagnostic students at the college were forced to have their sexual organs examined in front of the class. If they did not agree they were threatened with bad grades or getting blacklisted by future employers.

The three defendants named in the lawsuit are: Maureen Bugnacki, Linda Shaneen and Barbara Ball per CNN.

Maureen Bugnacki

Linda Shaneen

Barbara Ball

The suit alleges the women:

experienced discomfort and embarrassment each time they had to endure this forced probing of their sexual organs.

Even though peer physical examination is an accepted practice in the medical field the execution of same needs clarification. As an example every time a teacher calls on a student to answer a question, they are seen as volunteering even if they did not raise their hand.

The lawsuit also states the students would have to endure weekly probes. It said they:

endured these invasive probes without a modicum of privacy. Plaintiffs would disrobe in a restroom, drape themselves in towels, and traverse the sonography classroom in full view of instructors and other students. . . A student would place a condom over the probe and then apply generous amounts of lubrication to the probe. In some cases, the student would have to sexually ‘stimulate’ plaintiffs in order to facilitate inserting the probe into plaintiffs’ vaginas.

This behaivor was said to be very embarrassing and uncomfortable for the students.

According to the lawsuit, one of the defendants, Barbara Ball also made inappropriate comments to one of the “volunteers.” It was said Ball:

allegedly approached one student . . . during a probing session and stated (she) was ‘sexy’ and should be an ‘escort girl’ (prostitute).

Valencia’s diagnostic medical sonography associate degree program did not apologize for the incident. Instead they issued the following statement:

The use of volunteers — including fellow students — for medical sonography training is a nationally accepted practice. Valencia College’s sonography program has upheld the highest standards with respect to ultrasound scanning for educational purposes, including voluntary participation and professional supervision by faculty in a controlled laboratory setting. Nonetheless, we continue to review this practice and others to ensure that they are effective and appropriate for the learning environment.

All of those involved, especially the school’s president, Sandy Shugart should resign in the wake of this scandal.

Sandy Shugart started working for Valencia College in 2000. Prior he was the president of North Harris Community College in Houston.

Forcing students to submit to embarrassing and derogatory acts should be strictly prohibited and this lawsuit is going to tarnish the college’s reputation. Students were essentially getting raped in front of a classroom and teachers were allowed to further humiliate the students during the procedure with sexual comments. That is unacceptable behaivor and all involved should be held accountable.

You can read the full lawsuit here: Valencia.lawsuit