In an unusually harsh rebuke, a federal judge has concluded the State Department acted irrationally and without sufficient evidence when it expelled a South Carolina company from a foreign visitors exchange program.

In a 14-page decision issued Tuesday in Charleston, S.C., U.S. District Judge Patrick M. Duffy ordered a State Department board to immediately reinstate the American Hospitality Academy to the exchange program.

Citing a revocation decision that he said was "universally and inexplicably devoid" of evidence to back up its actions against AHA, the judge ordered the State Department to hold additional hearings to determine what if any penalties should be imposed on the company.

"The court has little trouble concluding that there is no rational connection between the facts found and the choice made, to wit, the revocation of AHA's designation," the decision states.

Duffy was critical of State Department officials for basing their conclusion about AHA on a 2 1/2 -day visit to Orlando, Fla., which took place a little more than a year ago. The department's investigation was triggered by complaints registered by two AHA trainees.

Though he called their complaints "egregious," Duffy said the 22 trainees interviewed during that visit did not represent a large enough sample to support the board's conclusion.

An attorney for the American Hospitality Academy, which operates in South Carolina and central Florida, called the decision a "complete vindication."

"We can enjoy a happy Thanksgiving knowing justice has been served," said the attorney, Laura Reiff.

State Department officials could not be reached yesterday for comment.

The Sun and the Orlando Sentinel reported this year that participants in the AHA program said they had been promised an educational training program in the hospitality field but were instead assigned to menial tasks such as cleaning goose dung from resort boat docks.

A State Department hearing board had ordered the revocation of AHA's designation as a sponsor in the foreign exchange program on June 14 after several days of hearings in Washington.

In its decision, the board concluded that the company had violated the rules of the program by placing foreign residents in unskilled jobs that did not meet minimum program requirements for training.

Rejecting pleas from AHA and its attorneys for a less stringent penalty, the board concluded that the AHA program was beyond repair.

Duffy said he was "fundamentally concerned with the board's decision to levy the gravest possible penalty."

A key State Department witness, Stanley Colvin, head of the bureau that oversees the exchange program, testified at the June hearing that it would not be economically viable to bring the AHA program into compliance with the federal requirements.

"The explanation given here," the judge wrote, "is virtually tantamount to no explanation at all. The sanction imposed is simply too drastic to rest on the rote speculation as to the possible effects of compliance."

He added that the board's conclusion that the only appropriate penalty was revocation "was not rational in light of the evidence before it."

Reiff said yesterday that she was not sure just what action the State Department will take regarding additional hearings.

"This has never happened before. It is uncharted territory," Reiff said, adding that she was awaiting word from State Department officials.