Isn't this the kind of coddling that more conservative people decried? If a student doesn't produce rigorous work, grades should reflect that. This makes grades into something arguable, not a score a student can learn from, or an evaluation that employers can use.

I suppose it’s open season on professors and teaching assistants. All grading beyond the trivial is more or less “arbitrary.”

I used to teach math to undergrads, and even back then the admin would never have protected me from this kind of social engineering attack.