RULING: Indiana U. Accused Male Denied Injunction
A male student accused of sexual misconduct was denied a preliminary injunction to prevent Indiana University Bloomington from suspending him as a sanction from what he called a “fundamentally unfair disciplinary process.” Filing under the pseudonym of “John Doe,” the student was suspended for four years from Indiana University after an investigation by the school concluded he had engaged in nonconsensual sexual activity. The case involves an unusual set of facts — while Doe and the female student were having sexual intercourse, someone entered the room and took a picture. The photo was later posted on social media, which led to a separate investigation by the IU Office of Student Conduct. Doe sued IU, asserting, among other claims, Title IX violations and breach of contract. In his motion for preliminary injunction, Doe argued IU’s investigation, disciplinary hearing and decision were biased against him because he is male. Doe argued as part of the investigation, IU did not develop leads or evidence on its own and the investigators arbitrarily determined the relevance of certain witness statements and did not resolve inconsistencies. Also, he asserted IU selectively enforced its policy of not allowing evidence of sexual history when the university did not interview his past sexual partners about his practice of obtaining consent, but did allow evidence that the female student was a virgin at the time of the incident. The case is one of at least 10 filed by students against at least six state universities that claim disciplinary cases concerning allegations of sexual misconduct violated students’ rights.
theindianalawyer.com By Marilyn Odendahl
