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Medium reported severity Lawsuit Filed

Adelphi accused Orion Newby of AI plagiarism after a detector flagged his paper; a Nassau County judge ordered the finding expunged

Orion Newby, an Adelphi University first-year student with language and auditory processing disabilities, received a zero in November 2024 on a World Civilizations paper after the professor suspected it was AI-generated and the university relied in part on AI-detection software; he was ordered to attend a plagiarism workshop and his appeal was denied, leaving him one finding from suspension or expulsion. Newby — who had written the paper with 15-20 hours of tutor support through the university's own disability program — said the detectors flagged his citations, and two other detectors scored the paper as human. After the family sued, New York State Supreme Court Judge Randy Sue Marber in Nassau County ruled on 28 January 2026 that Adelphi's finding and its denial of his appeal were 'without valid basis and devoid of reason' and ordered his record expunged. The family spent six figures on legal costs.

AI system
Turnitin AI-text detector
Turnitin
Occurred
1 Nov 2024 to 28 Jan 2026
Reported
10 October 2025
Event location
United States
What the AI did
Made a decision about the person · Made a claim about the person
Reported harm
Educational HarmFinancial LossPsychological Distress
Whose AI use
An institution’s AI use
Setting
Education · Justice · Accessibility
Evidence
AI involvement supported · Causal attribution supported · 3 sources, 2 underlying accounts
5 claims: 1 documented, 3 corroborated, 1 reported. 5 open questions
People reported harmed
1 person

AI system as recorded: Turnitin AI-detection software (and the university's reliance on it)

What Happened

In November 2024, first-year Adelphi student Orion Newby submitted a paper on Christianity and Islam for the fall 2024 World Civilizations 1 class taught by Assistant Professor Micah Oelze. Newby has been treated since about age two for learning and neurological disabilities — language and auditory processing disorders and ADHD — and wrote the paper with a tutor from Bridges to Adelphi, the university's own $5,000-a-semester disability-support program, plus home tutors (15-20 hours, he said). Oelze graded the paper zero in part because he thought it was AI-generated; the university, per the lawsuit, relied in part on AI-detection software — court records show Turnitin's AI detector marked the essay as fully AI-written while two other detectors scored it human. Newby was ordered to attend a plagiarism workshop, a 'nondisciplinary' punishment that would leave a second offense punishable by suspension or expulsion; the university told him he could not enroll in other classes until he complied, and denied his appeal. The family sued in October 2025 (attorney Mark Lesko, a former acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York); the flagged similarities were his list of citations, his father said. On 28 January 2026, State Supreme Court Judge Randy Sue Marber in Nassau County wrote that Adelphi's finding and its denial of the appeal were 'without valid basis and devoid of reason' and ordered the school to expunge his record. Newby, now a second-year history major, said: 'It feels incredible to finally have my name cleared.' His mother said the family spent six figures on legal costs. Adelphi said it was evaluating the decision. Lesko called the ruling a 'bellwether example' and said many parents had contacted him with similar issues. Inside Higher Ed's account erroneously described the ruling as a federal judge's; Newsday's account of Judge Marber's state Supreme Court decision controls.

Reported harm

A false AI-plagiarism finding brought a zero, a plagiarism-workshop order one step from suspension, sleepless nights, and a year-plus fight costing six figures to clear his record — despite two other detectors scoring the paper human and the writing help coming from the university's own disability program.

How Harm Occurred

An AI-detection system's false positive was treated as proof of misconduct; the institution's process (zero grade, mandatory workshop, blocked enrollment, denied appeal) converted the tool's error into a year-long fight and six-figure costs for a disabled student using sanctioned support.

Outcome

Resolved

New York State Supreme Court, Nassau County, Judge Randy Sue Marber, 28 January 2026: the finding and the appeal denial were 'without valid basis and devoid of reason'; the school must expunge his record. Adelphi said it was evaluating the decision.

What remains unknown

  • The decision text was not fetched; the ruling is recorded through Newsday's account quoting the judge.
  • The similarity scores Turnitin returned and the university's full decision letter are not public in the inspected sources.
  • Whether Adelphi changed its AI-detection or appeals policies afterward is not reported.
  • The first-person Times account (28 Aug 2026) is paywalled and was not inspected; his later reflections are therefore not claimed.
  • The workshop's completion status after the ruling (moot after expungement) is not reported.

What the evidence supports

AI involvement: supported. The lawsuit records that Adelphi relied in part on AI-detection software; court records show Turnitin's detector marked the essay as fully AI-written while two other detectors scored it human (Newsday). The university's process, not the tool alone, produced the sanction — recorded in the harm mechanism.

5 claims: 1 documented, 3 corroborated, 1 reported. What the statuses mean

Corroborated In November 2024 Newby submitted a paper on Christianity and Islam for the fall 2024 World Civilizations 1 class; the professor graded it zero in part because he thought it was AI-generated, and Adelphi, per the lawsuit, relied in part on AI-detection software — court records show Turnitin's detector marked the essay as fully AI-written while two other detectors scored it human.

Causal attribution. The detector results and the lawsuit's contents are attributed to court filings as carried by Newsday; the professor's suspicion is attributed to court filings and ABC7.

  • newsday.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'In November 2024, Newby submitted a paper on Christianity and Islam'; 'Oelze gave the paper a grade of zero, according to court filings, in part because he thought it was AI-generated'; 'According to the lawsuit, Adelphi relied in part on AI detection software'; 'Turnitin's AI detector marked the essay as fully AI-written, but Newby ran it through two other detectors that said it was written by a human, court records show'.
  • abc7ny.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Adelphi University says an AI detection software flagged 19-year-old Orion Newby's work and claims the paper was "too advanced" for the first-year student'; 'That paper earned him a zero'.
Corroborated Newby was ordered to attend a plagiarism workshop — a 'nondisciplinary' punishment that could have led to suspension or expulsion on a second offense — was told he could not enroll in other classes until he complied, and his appeal was denied; the family sued in October 2025.

Causal attribution. Both chains independently carry the workshop order and the enrollment block (Newsday from the ruling stage, ABC7 from the filing stage).

  • newsday.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'University officials ordered Newby to attend a plagiarism workshop — which, while considered a "nondisciplinary" punishment, could have resulted in suspension or expulsion if he was found to have committed a second offense'; 'The university's denial of Newby's appeal left the family "no choice" but to sue'.
  • abc7ny.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Adelphi told him he had to take an anti-plagiarism course, and until he did, he couldn't enroll in other classes. That's when his family sued.'
Documented On 28 January 2026, New York State Supreme Court Judge Randy Sue Marber in Nassau County ruled that Adelphi's finding and its denial of his appeal were 'without valid basis and devoid of reason' and ordered the school to expunge his record.

Causal attribution. The ruling is documented by Newsday's report quoting the decision; the IHE forum error is recorded explicitly. The decision text itself was not fetched (Newsday's account is the inspected record).

  • newsday.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'state Supreme Court Judge Randy Sue Marber in Nassau County wrote on Jan. 28. The school must expunge his record, the judge ruled'; 'were "without valid basis and devoid of reason"'.
  • insidehighered.com(opens in new tab) contradicts · English
    Inside Higher Ed's relay describes a 'federal judge' — erroneous; Judge Marber's state Supreme Court decision controls.
Corroborated Newby has been treated since about age two for learning and neurological disabilities — language and auditory processing disorders and ADHD — and wrote the paper with a tutor from Bridges to Adelphi, the university's own $5,000-a-semester disability-support program, working 15-20 hours with tutors.

Causal attribution. The disability and support details come from his mother's and his own accounts, carried by both chains.

  • newsday.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'treated since he was about 2 years old for learning and neurological disabilities that include language and auditory processing disorders and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder'; 'He had worked on it with a tutor from Bridges to Adelphi, the university's $5,000-a-semester program'.
  • abc7ny.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'Newby has learning differences... issues specifically with language processing. At Adelphi, he's in a special program with extra support'; 'I told him I worked 15 to 20 hours with tutors'.
Reported The family spent six figures on legal costs; attorney Mark Lesko called the ruling a 'bellwether example' and said many parents had contacted him with similar issues.

Causal attribution. The mother's and the attorney's accounts; the 'many parents' figure is unquantified and no other persons are counted.

  • newsday.com(opens in new tab) supports · English
    'The family has spent six figures on legal costs, she said'; Lesko passages ('bellwether example'; 'I can't tell you how many parents have reached out to us with similar issues').

Sources

3 sources inspected, from 2 underlying accounts. Sources that repeat one account do not corroborate each other.

How the sources were read, and where the events happened

Read in English on 2026-09-15 (datePublished 2026-02-09T10:00Z; 48 paragraphs). Applies to s1.

Read in English on 2026-09-15 (datePublished 2025-10-10T20:54Z). Applies to s2.

Read in English on 2026-09-15 (2026-02-11). Relays Newsday; its 'federal judge' phrase is erroneous — Judge Marber sits in the state Supreme Court, and the claim records the discrepancy. Applies to s3.

Event countries: United States. Affected-person countries: United States. Court countries: United States.

Event: Adelphi University, Garden City, New York. Affected person: Newby, a student there living in Lido Beach, NY. Court: New York State Supreme Court, Nassau County.

Reviewed for publication 2026-09-15: Published under the 2026-09-15 charter as an institutional automated-decision case (made_decision_about / made_claim_about): a detector-driven false accusation with court-vacated sanctions. Newby and his parents spoke publicly; his disability is recorded because it is central to the case's facts (the university's own support program produced the writing process the detector misread), not as a label.

People described

Orion Newby, Adelphi University student (named; he and his parents spoke publicly), a student with language and auditory processing disabilities supported by the university's own disability program

People reported harmed in this case

1 person

0 AI participants · 1 other person harmed

One documented harmed person: Newby, the subject of the detector-driven accusation (court ruling and Newsday/ABC7 reporting). Other students mentioned by his attorney ('many parents have reached out') are unquantified and not counted.

Counted once within this case. The same person may appear in other cases. This count does not establish AI causation.

Tags

#ai-detector#turnitin#education#disability#court-win#new-york

Cite this case

Compiled per our published methodology: verification statuses, sourcing standards, and corrections process.

APA

NOPE. (2026). Adelphi accused Orion Newby of AI plagiarism after a detector flagged his paper; a Nassau County judge ordered the finding expunged. AI incidents. https://nope.net/incidents/2026-newby-adelphi-ai-detector-vacated

BibTeX

@misc{2026_newby_adelphi_ai_detector_vacated,
  title = {Adelphi accused Orion Newby of AI plagiarism after a detector flagged his paper; a Nassau County judge ordered the finding expunged},
  author = {NOPE},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {AI incidents},
  url = {https://nope.net/incidents/2026-newby-adelphi-ai-detector-vacated}
}

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