ACQUITTED OF Rape Expelled St. John Fisher Male Sues College for Defamation, Violating Agreement
A Former St. John Fisher student is taking the college to court for defamation. Frank Bisimwa was a freshman when he was accused of sexual assault. Bisimwa was found not guilty by a grand jury for any crimes associated with the incident. However, the school pursued an investigation of their own. That investigation found Bisimwa responsible and he was expelled as a result of the school’s findings. Bisimwa was denied admission to several other colleges because of these instances on his record.
In the lawsuit filed in New York State Supreme Court on June 27, Bisimwa accuses the college and the assistant dean of students at the college of breaching the agreement made after his acquittal. Per the terms of the agreement, Bisimwa was to be paid $110,000 for lost scholarship money and expunge his transcript of all disciplinary actions. According to the suit, there was also a “non-disparagement clause”, which mandated that the college would not make…any defamatory or disparaging remarks, comments or statements” about Bisimwa. The clause also stated the college could disclose his student conduct history minus the violations found at the student conduct hearing.
From spring 2017 until summer 2018, Bisimwa applied for admission at three schools in New York and was rejected from each one. Each of the rejections cited the allegations that he violated the student conduct hearing, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit seeks a jury trial for punitive and compensatory damages for breach of contract, defamation and libel, tortious interference with contract, and negligence.
