A former Clovis North High School honors student contends in a civil lawsuit that the Fresno County Science Fair was rigged from 2014 to 2016 and that he was cheated out of being a finalist three years in a row.
To support his claim, the student filed a California Public Records Act request with the Office of the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools, which puts on the annual science fair.
According to the Superior Court lawsuit, the county education documents revealed the competition’s director, Jennifer Weibert, allegedly took a bribe from a parent whose child won the competition and that some parents acted as judges for their own child’s project.
The lawsuit names Superintendent of Schools Jim Yovino, Weibert, and Kuldip and Kajori Thusu, the parent of the science competition winner.
Lisa Birrell, the superintendent’s communications and public relations officer, said Thursday: “We believe that there is no merit to the lawsuit. The staff of the Office of the Fresno County Superintendent of Schools works diligently to ensure that all of our events are fair for all students, including the Fresno County Science Fair.”
The plaintiff is identified in court papers only as OS. He is seeking unspecified damages for alleged violation of his due process rights, fraud, unfair competition and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
Kuldip and Kajori Thusu are doctors at the Alta Family Health Clinic in Dinuba. He also owns Universal Biopharma Research Institute Inc. in Fresno. In addition, Kuldip Thusu is vice mayor for the city of Dinuba in Tulare County. He lives in Dinuba, but he and his wife also have a home in Clovis.
“It’s bogus and not worthy of a comment,” Kuldip Thusu said of the lawsuit. “It’s so silly, so petty.”
Fresno attorneys Travis Stokes and Charles Doerksen, who represent the couple, also said the lawsuit has no legal merit. “Instead of accepting the fact that life doesn’t always go our way, plaintiff OS concocted a conspiracy theory worthy of an after-school TV special.” Stokes said.
With hopes of resolving the dispute amicably, Stokes sent a letter on Wednesday to the plaintiff’s attorney, Amanda G. Hebesha of Clovis, saying that if the lawsuit is not dismissed within 21 days, then a motion will be filed to obtain attorneys fees and cost. “Under this statute, when a plaintiff files a frivolous action, the defendant can file a motion asking the court to strike the complaint and issue sanctions against the plaintiff and his attorney of record,” Stokes said.
Hebesha did not return a telephone call for comment.
Clovis Unified spokeswoman Kelly Avants said the district was aware of the student’s concerns and tried to mediate them with FCOE, but was unable to provide him with a solution that he felt was acceptable.
The allegations
The lawsuit gives only OS and Hebesha’s account of what happened:
He had participated in the county science fair since elementary school and began making complex projects starting in the eighth grade. Setting his sights on a top university, his goal was to win the prestigious International Science and Engineering Fair, or ISEF, the world’s largest pre-college science competition.
To attend ISEF, a high school student in California must qualify at the local level. In OS’s case, he had to be a finalist in the Fresno County Science Fair to attend ISEF.
Every year, Fresno County Science Fair picks four student projects to attend the ISEF. The winners are not based on ranking of the project’s importance, the lawsuit says, but determined by a panel of judges. “OS was never selected to be an ISEF finalist in his academic career despite his projects being clearly superior to many of those chosen to go to ISEF,” the lawsuit says.
OS first suspected cheating in March 2014 during the county science fair awards ceremony. He said he overheard Kuldip Thusu boast that he did his daughter’s project that she did with another student, the lawsuit alleges. “This project was selected not only as the winner in its category, but also selected to go to ISEF,” the lawsuit says.
OS said he told Weibert and Clovis North science adviser Jonathan Bowns about Thusu’s comments, but “they responded by dismissing the claims without any investigation,” the lawsuit says.
According to the lawsuit, OS obtained an email between Weibert and Bowns that said: “What we didn’t talk about was any concerns (about) the girls not really doing this project themselves. We can’t have the dad going around talking …” the lawsuit says.
“Despite their knowledge of the corruption, Weibert and Bowns reassured OS of the fairness of the competition,” the lawsuit says.
Assured that the competition was fair, the plaintiff spent considerable time and effort in preparing his 2015 science project. Then a junior, he was ranked No. 1 in his class and his goal was to become a cardiologist, the lawsuit says.
His 2015 project was called “Heart Attacks in Young Adults in Central California.” He poured over data of patients from different age groups and demographics, and was coached by Fresno cardiologist Dr. Bipin Joshi.
But his project was not selected as a finalist. Instead, Thusu’s daughter and her partner again placed first in their category over OS. “The setback cost OS his confidence and caused extreme emotional and mental distress,” the lawsuit says. He spent the rest of his junior year and nearly all of his senior year at home and was “unable to participate in graduation,” the lawsuit says.
Because he did his studies online, he didn’t get into Harvard or Stanford, either. But he didn’t give up, the lawsuit says. He entered his 2015 project in to the Intel Science Talent Search. In January 2016, the project was selected as a national semifinalist, a rare accomplishment for a Fresno County entry. “It was an amazing achievement for a project deemed not worthy to be one of the four selected from (the Fresno County Science Fair).” the lawsuit says.
With his confidence improving, OS submitted a 2016 project to the Fresno County Science Fair. Thusu’s daughter and partner did not submit a project. But he still was not chosen as a finalist. He later entered his project in the state competition and earned third place. This prompted him to ask Weibert and Yovino if the county competition was fair. They assured him that it was.
Because he was not chosen for the International Science and Engineering Fair and could not participate in the Clovis North graduation ceremonies, OS experienced depression, anxiety and severe emotional distress, the lawsuit says.
Assurances given
Because of their suspicions, OS and his father talked to Weibert and Yovino about their concerns, but Weibert and Yovino assured them that no rules had been broken and that the competition was fair. Specifically, Yovino assured them in writing that mentors and parents could not act as judges and spots could not be reserved for the ISEF competition. Yovino also told them that a committee of 10 professors from Fresno State selected the four projects advancing to the ISEF.
Sensing the competitions were rigged, OS submitted several Public Records Requests to the Fresno County Office of Education. “FCOE did not produce all documents. However, sufficient documents were produced to disclose that the truth of what really happened at the Fresno County Science Fair,” the lawsuit says, noting that OS received the documents in March 2017.
According to the lawsuit, the FCOE documents shows several improprieties:
▪ Thusu allegedly paid “bribe money to Weibert for her accommodations upgrades for the ISEF trip” prior to the county competition.
▪ Weibert allegedly “did not disclose and covered up the fact” that certain students were judged by their own project mentors.
▪ Parents also acted as judges for their own child’s project, the lawsuit says, and spots could be and were reserved for ISEF prior to the county competition.
“The FCOE documents further disclosed that Weibert had such a dislike for OS that she violated his right to freely pursue public educational opportunities that were available to him,” the lawsuit says. Her dislike of OS began when he was in the eighth grade when he earned a spot at the state science fair. Weibert, however, failed to notify OS, so he did not attend, the lawsuit says. “From that point on, the evidence shows Weibert lied to OS about why he did not make it to ISEF,” the lawsuit says.
After high school, OS was accepted at the University of Missouri, Kansas City, “but unfortunately had to return home from this program due to his emotional distress,” the lawsuit says.
Pablo Lopez: 559-441-6434, @beecourts
This story was originally published February 16, 2018 8:00 AM.