A college awarded identical twin sisters $1.5 million in damages in South Carolina after they wrongly accused the girls of cheating in a medical exam.
The Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) accused the girls of signaling to each other when their answers on a test were identical.
The court ruled in favor of the girls stating that their answers were identical because their minds were connected.
Kayla and Kellie Bingham, 30, enrolled at the University in 2016 to fulfill their dreams of one-day becoming doctors.
However, six years later, the girls sued the school for defamation and were compensated for having their reputations damaged after a jury ruled in their favor.
The girls were 24 when the accusation was first revealed. Apparently, Kayla and Kellie were assigned to sit at the same table during a medical exam, according to Kellie.
Kellie told Insider that it was impossible for her and her sister to see each other’s computer screens regardless of the fact that there were only about five feet between them.
The daughters of South Carolina Republican state Representative Kenny Bingham had experienced similar testing scores before.
The twins had received the same SAT scores despite the fact that they tested on different days and at different locations. The girls also scored within a fraction of a point of each another in high school. Setting a pattern, the girls had been recording similar answers to test questions since the first grade.
A professor, who had previously taught the girls in college before their enrollment in medical school, wrote a letter defending the twins as he had noted the similarities in the girls testing before.
The professor said the girls had both submitted the exact same answers on an exam that he oversaw in 2012, despite making them sit at opposite ends of the classroom.
Also rising to the girl’s defense was Professor Nancy Segal, a psychologist and behavior geneticist. Segal who specializes in the study of twins at California State University, Fullerton, also came to Kayla and Kellie’s defense and even testified in court on their behalf.
Speaking of the twins, Segal said, “They are genetically predisposed to behave the same way. They’ve been raised the same and are natural partners in the same environment.”
Despite the girl’s initial defense of themselves against the board, the twins were not able to prove their innocence and appealed to the college’s dean, Raymond DuBois. DuBois did clear them of any wrongdoing a week later. However, at that point, the damage was done.
The girls became unpopular on their campus and were labeled as ‘academically dishonest’ by their peers.
Their names were also run in media outlets, which further led to them being isolated from friends and they were even ‘disinvited’ to two weddings, Insider reported.
Due to the hostile environment on campus, the dean recommended the girls leave the school.
As stated earlier, the girls filed a defamation lawsuit against the school and won.
The sisters are now lawyers and yes, scored similarly on the LSAT.
The girls are now co-workers at the same law firm, where they take on defamation cases similar to the one that they first experienced six years ago.
