WENATCHEE — A former nursing student is suing Wenatchee Valley College for trying to kick her out of the program less than a month before graduation last year.

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Sydney Hills-Lund's attorney says school officials believed Hills-Lund was intoxicated during a phone call with her nursing instructor in May 2007.

Hills-Lund says she has a medical condition called myasthenia gravis (MG), which is a muscular disease that can affect speech, and that is why her speech was slurred during the conversation.

Hills-Lund filed a complaint in Chelan County Superior Court in April claiming that WVC's discipline against her did not follow state law or college policy. She also claims that the college denied her right to due process and breached promises made in the student handbook.

The complaint stems from an assignment, which Hills-Lund believed she passed. Every Friday, Michele Moseley, an instructor contracted by WVC from Central Washington Hospital, met with students to discuss whether students passed or failed their clinical skills tests. On May 18, 2007, no students failed, Hills-Lund said, according to court documents.

On May 23, 2007, Hills-Lund called Moseley to tell her she'd be absent from class that day. Moseley told Hills-Lund she failed the assignment, according to court documents. That night, Hills-Lund called Moseley again to complain about how she'd been treated.

Hills-Lund claimed Linda Visser, former nursing director, called her the next day to discipline her. Visser denied disciplining Hill during the phone call, according to WVC's response to the student's claims filed June 6.

Walt Tribley, director of allied health and safety, and Visser met Hills-Lund a few days later and told the student she was dismissed from the nursing program. WVC's lawyer, assistant attorney general John Nicholson, refused to disclose the reasons for her dismissal because student files are confidential, he said.

In court documents, Hills-Lund claimed WVC told her she'd have to enroll in a substance abuse program and petition the faculty in order to be readmitted to the nursing program.

"They accused her of being intoxicated (during the phone call with Visser) when she was not, she was suffering symptoms of MG," Kane said. Hills-Lund claimed the perceived "drunkenness" was the result of MG's effects on her speech. Kane said she did not tell the college about her condition prior to the accusation because she did not want to be treated differently.

Kane said WVC also barred her from taking finals, but then allowed her to test after she'd hired a lawyer.

WVC eventually allowed Hills-Lund to graduate on time but made the decision too late for her to attend graduation ceremonies and the nurse pinning, both in June 2007, Kane said.

Hills-Lund has asked the court for an undisclosed amount of money in damages plus attorney fees, according to the complaint. Her lawyer, Scott Kane, said she also requested money for lost wages from May until fall, when she was hired as a nurse in Quincy.

The college's board of directors last week voted to legally defend two employees named in the lawsuit — Visser and Tribley. The lawsuit also names Moseley as a defendant. Nicholson said he expects to represent Moseley too, but the paperwork has not been finished.

WVC denied wrongdoing and said its employees acted in good faith, according to the college's legal response to the complaint. Both sides said they'll spend the next several weeks gathering information to prepare for a trial, which has not been scheduled.