She portrayed the prank as an “inside joke” with a fellow student sitting behind her, and later told the student that others were “too uptight” about the joke.

Others on the bus, including officials from the college and the incoming president of the American Association of Nurse Anesthetists, gave a different account of what happened. They said that Armstrong held her pants down and walked up and down the aisle of the bus while repeating the joke.

Clarkson determined that the student had violated the professional standards of nurse anesthetists and ethical standards for students. Initially they put Armstrong on probation, but later withdrew her from the program when they could not find a clinic willing to allow her to complete her studies.

Armstrong sued, and a Douglas County jury unanimously ruled that Clarkson had breached its contract with Armstrong. The jury ordered the school to pay $1 million in damages.

But the Supreme Court ruled that the trial judge, District Judge Marlon Polk, had failed to instruct jurors about a point brought up by the college: that Armstrong had failed to use the college’s grievance procedure before filing her lawsuit.