A student is suing the University of Michigan, claiming it wrongly accused her of using artificial intelligence to write class papers.
She insists she wrote the papers herself.
The suit says the woman has “documented disabilities, including generalized anxiety disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder” that affect her writing style.
Traits associated with her disabilities “including formal tone, meticulous structure, stylistic consistency, and heightened distress during oral confrontation, can be misinterpreted as artificial or dishonest behavior and are not proof of AI misuse,” the suit says.
It also says that the woman has been under continuous medical care since February 2025 to deal with her anxiety and obsessive-compulsive disorders.
The Ohio woman who filed the suit is proceeding in the case unnamed, listed only as Jane Doe in the pleadings. The Free Press left a message with the university seeking comment.
At issue in the case are papers she submitted in a course called Great Books 191.
The woman claims that a graduate assistant in the class began filing academic misconduct charges against her in the fall. The suit says the accusations were based heavily on subjective judgments about her writing style and on self-confirming AI comparison outputs.
In response, the woman filed documents detailing her disabilities that she said explained how they impacted her writing style.
The university was apparently unpersuaded, and she received a “no record” grade on her transcript in that class. The no record grade is harming her academic standing and threatens her ability to transfer or apply to graduate school, the suit claims.
The suit says the graduate assistant also posted statements calling AI concerns as central to the academic mission.
“If a university cannot stand up for its values against AI then death is only a mercy,” according to the lawsuit. “I fear that grading has made me paranoid and inclined to see AI everywhere.”
The woman appealed the misconduct charges against her and also filed a rights complaint with the U.S. Department of Education Office of Civil Rights. That civil rights case is pending and the university paused her appeal on the misconduct charges while it proceeds, according to the suit.
The lawsuit was filed Monday, Feb. 9, in federal court in Detroit and has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Laurie Michelson.
The case is part of what is likely to be a growing trend. In February 2025, a graduate student sued Yale University claiming it had used faulty AI detection tools to wrongly accuse her.
That student also claimed to have disabilities that required accommodations. That suit is pending.
Contact John Wisely: jwisely@freepress.com. On X: @jwisely
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Student claims U-M wrongly accused her of using AI
Reporting by John Wisely, Detroit Free Press / Detroit Free Press
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