[PUBLISH] In the United States Court of Appeals For the Eleventh Circuit

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No. 22-13945 ____________________

ELIE NEHME, Plaintiff-Appellant, versus FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES,

Defendant-Appellee.

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Appeal from the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida D.C. Docket No. 1:20-cv-24649-AMC ____________________ USCA11 Case: 22-13945 Document: 35-1 Date Filed: 12/02/2024 Page: 2 of 10

2 Opinion of the Court 22-13945

Before JILL PRYOR, BRANCH, and GRANT, Circuit Judges. GRANT, Circuit Judge: Elie Nehme did not do well in medical school. All told, he failed nine courses—including six while on academic probation— and was even forced to repeat a full year of classes. His tenure was also marred by a complaint from three professors lamenting his general unprofessionalism. Given these deficiencies, it is no surprise that Florida International University dismissed him for academic underperformance instead of allowing him to complete medical school—and ultimately become a practicing physician. Nehme does not see it that way. He says that his removal was because of disability discrimination rather than his academic failures. But Nehme’s argument fails for a basic reason: he cannot show that he is a “qualified individual” under the Americans with Disabilities Act. Why? He could not meet the university’s minimum academic standards, even with reasonable accommodations for his disability. See 42 U.S.C. § 12132; 34 C.F.R. § 104.3(l)(3). We affirm the district court’s grant of summary judgment for the University. I. Florida International University’s medical school curriculum is divided into four years. The first two years involve mainly classroom study, while the last two add hands-on experience in hospitals and clinics. To graduate, students must achieve “overall competency” across nine separate domains, showing that they USCA11 Case: 22-13945 Document: 35-1 Date Filed: 12/02/2024 Page: 3 of 10

22-13945 Opinion of the Court 3

possess “the skills and knowledge necessary to competently assume the responsibilities of a medical doctor.” The medical school’s approach, however, is not as unforgiving as one might assume; significant remediation opportunities are available for students. Even failure is not dispositive, at least to a certain point: students who fail a course “may be offered the opportunity to demonstrate competency with satisfactory performance on a remediation assessment.” That second chance usually takes the form of a “comprehensive exam.” But passing a remediation exam does not erase the original failure from a student’s record, and a second failure is treated as just that— a second failure. Nehme did not get off to a good start. During his first year, he failed the Genes, Molecules, and Cells class, a “basic medical science course introducing the fundamental concepts of biology.” And while he passed the remediation exam for that course, the rest of his transcript st