Adelphi University Student Wins AI Plagiarism Lawsuit

A Nassau County Supreme Court judge sided with an Adelphi University sophomore in January 2026, annulling the school’s finding that he had used artificial intelligence to write a history paper and ordering the accusation wiped from his record. The Adelphi University AI plagiarism lawsuit, brought by history major Orion Newby, turned on a single Turnitin AI-detection score the university relied on despite two other detectors clearing the essay and despite the accusing professor’s own later doubts.¹ Judge Randy Sue Marber called the university’s decision “without valid basis and devoid of reason.”²

How the Accusation Started

In the fall 2024 semester, Newby submitted an essay for World Civilizations 1, taught by assistant professor Micah Oelze. Oelze ran the paper through Turnitin’s AI detector, which returned a score of 100% AI-generated.¹ On November 17, 2024, Oelze gave Newby a zero. Three days later he filed a formal Academic Integrity Violation Report, citing the Turnitin result and his own judgment that the work “does not carry the voice that I associate with Orion (or any college student).”²

Newby participates in Adelphi’s Bridges to Adelphi program, which supports neurodiverse students, including those on the autism spectrum.³ Tutors in that program had assisted him with his academic work, a fact his lawyers argued the university never seriously investigated.⁴

What Went Wrong Inside Adelphi’s Process

On December 3, 2024, Adelphi’s academic integrity officer, associate professor Michael LaCombe, issued a formal finding of responsibility and ordered Newby to attend a plagiarism workshop.² Under Adelphi’s code, a second offense can lead to suspension or expulsion, so the finding put Newby’s academic future at risk beyond a single grade.⁵

Newby appealed. The appeal went to LaCombe, the same official who had issued the original finding. On December 7, 2024, LaCombe denied it, stating that a group of faculty had reviewed the evidence.²

One day earlier, on December 4, Oelze had emailed Newby saying he had been “under the impression” that LaCombe’s office would independently evaluate the file rather than default to a finding of responsibility. Oelze encouraged Newby to keep contesting the claim.²

The Lawsuit and the Court’s Ruling

Newby’s family hired attorneys Mark Lesko and James Miskiewicz and filed under Article 78 of New York’s Civil Practice Law and Rules, which lets courts review whether an institution acted arbitrarily.¹ His legal team submitted evidence that the same essay had been run through two other AI detection tools, both of which concluded the paper was human-written, and argued Adelphi had failed to interview Bridges tutors or examine the drafts on Newby’s computer.⁴

On January 28, 2026, Judge Marber granted the petition, annulled both the plagiarism finding and the appeal denial, and ordered Adelphi to expunge the violation and rescind all sanctions. The university’s motion to dismiss was denied.²

The court identified several failures in Adelphi’s process:

LaCombe “failed to even consider” the two other AI detectors that found the essay human-written, even though the university’s case rested on a single Turnitin score.¹
The same official decided both the initial case and the appeal, which the court said thwarted Newby’s right to a “meaningful appeal” promised in university policy.¹
The university did not interview Bridges tutors, examine Newby’s drafts, or account for his neurological differences.⁴
Oelze’s December 4 email effectively undermined the plagiarism claim.²

Judge Marber framed the dispute as a “question of fact” — whether Newby actually used AI — rather than a question of academic standards, which courts typically leave to universities. That distinction gave the court room to intervene where judges usually defer.⁴

The ruling did not award monetary damages. Newby’s mother, Candace Newby, told Newsday the family had spent six figures on legal costs.¹

The AI Detection Problem at the Heart of the Case

Adelphi’s own academic integrity guidelines state that Turnitin AI reports “cannot be used as sole evidence” and must be supported by other indicators such as inconsistent style or advanced terminology a student is unlikely to have used.⁶ The court found the university had leaned on a single Turnitin score anyway, disregarded two contradictory results, and skipped the corroborating investigation its policy called for.

Independent research has raised broader doubts about these tools. Turnitin acknowledged in 2023 that scores under 20% are “less reliable,” and a Washington Post investigation found false-positive rates higher than the company advertises.⁷ A 2023 study in the International Journal for Educational Integrity that examined 14 tools, including Turnitin, concluded they were “neither accurate nor reliable.”⁸

The tools have proven especially unreliable for some students. A Stanford study found detectors falsely flagged 61.3% of essays by non-native English speakers as AI-generated, and research has shown that neurodivergent students, including those with ADHD, autism, or dyslexia, may be flagged at higher rates because their writing patterns can register as anomalous.⁹ That last point matters for Newby, given his participation in a program built for neurodiverse students. Jim Samuel, executive director of the informatics program at Rutgers University, put it plainly: “In most cases, it’s difficult to say with a sufficiently high degree of certainty that a person has used AI.”¹⁰

Where Things Stand

An Adelphi spokeswoman said the school “does not comment on litigation or on individual or personal cases involving students or faculty” and was “evaluating the court’s decision and will proceed accordingly.”¹ As of mid-2026, there was no public indication that Adelphi had appealed.⁵ Oelze did not respond to press requests, and LaCombe declined to comment.

Lesko called the ruling “a bellwether example of why universities need to be very careful and protective of their students when they address issues regarding the use of AI in the classroom,” and said many parents had contacted him with similar stories. As of February 2026, Newby remained enrolled at Adelphi as a second-year history major.¹

1
Newsday. Adelphi University AI Plagiarism Lawsuit
2
FindLaw. In Re the Application of Orion Newby v. Adelphi University
3
Adelphi University. Bridges to Adelphi
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Plagiarism Today. Adelphi Student Wins AI Plagiarism Lawsuit
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Inside Higher Ed. Adelphi Student Wins AI Plagiarism Lawsuit
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Adelphi University. Academic Integrity
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NPR. AI Schools Teachers Students
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Brandeis University. Detection Tools
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University of San Diego Law Library. AI Detection Tools
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Rutgers Bloustein School. Samuel Quoted in AI Lawsuit Against Student