When the AI Detector Is Wrong — A Disability-Discrimination Lawsuit Over the University of Michigan's AI-Misconduct Process

In fall semester 2025, a University of Michigan graduate instructor accused an undergraduate three times of using AI to write papers for an introductory course, basing the accusations on subjective judgments about writing style and on 'AI comparison' outputs that the lawsuit calls a self-confirming, circular methodology. The student, who has documented generalized anxiety disorder and OCD since February 2025 (with accommodations approved that September), argued that traits associated with the conditions — formal tone, meticulous structure, stylistic consistency — were misread as signs of AI use.
On December 10, 2025, the university's Office of Student Academic Affairs found academic misconduct and imposed disciplinary probation, a mandatory reflective essay, and an 'NR' (no record) transcript grade that the student says blocks graduation. The student's appeal was paused during a civil-rights investigation; a federal education office dismissed the complaint on January 2, 2026. The student filed suit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan on February 10, 2026, alleging violations of the ADA and Rehabilitation Act, denial of disability accommodations during the process, and retaliation. The university has declined to comment; the case is pending.
Included here as a cautionary case, not an endorsed practice: it illustrates the risk of unvalidated, subjective AI-detection methodology and the importance of disability-informed academic-integrity procedures. No court ruling on the merits has yet been issued.

Read the full analysis: https://www.cbsnews.com/detroit/news/university-michigan-student-lawsuit-ai-disability-discrimination/