Theater of the absurdIT graduate sues school over failure to land a job

In keeping with the times, there is now a new attitude or disposition: unemployment rage. In evidence: A U.S. college graduate is suing her alma mater because she has been unable to find a job.

Rik Myslewski writes that Trina Thompson, 27, graduated in April from Monroe College in the Bronx, New York with a bachelor’s degree in IT. That lofty educational achievement has not yet helped her land a job, and so she is suing the college for reimbursement of her tuition — $70,000 — plus an additional $2,000 “for the stress I have been going through looking for a full-time job on my own,” according to court documents.

These is not a good time to look for an IT job. According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, unemployment in the U.S. information industry rose from 157,000 in June of 2008 to 347,000 in June of 2009 — this is a jump from 4.7 percent IT unemployment in 2008 to 11.1 percent in 2009.

Still, Thompson wants her money back. The New York Post quotes Thomson as saying about her former school, “They have not tried hard enough to help me.”

Her mother told the Post that “She’s angry. She’s very angry at her situation. She put all her faith in them, and so did I. They’re not making an effort.”

Monroe College does not agree. The Post quotes a college spokesperson as saying, “The lawsuit is completely without merit. The college prides itself on the excellent career-development support that we provide to each of our students, and this case does not deserve further consideration.”

The U.K.’s TimesOnline adds one detail that neither Thompson nor her mother emphasized: that her grade-point average was a mere 2.7 — this would be around a B-, a status in these grade-inflated days which is not likely to put her on the fast track to success.