APPEALS COURT Upholds $130K Judgment Against Pomona College For Railroading Falsely Accused Student
Lawyers for “John Doe” wanted Pomona College to pay at least $250,000 in attorney’s fees for repeatedly violating its own policies to find the accused student responsible for sexual assault. They got about half that from Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Mary Strobel, who said Pomona’s conduct was so egregious that she couldn’t “conclude that the factual scenario was unique and unlikely to recur.” (Pomona attempted to retry Doe with the same approach Strobel struck down.)
The private college appealed. The result? More money for Doe.
A California appeals court upheld the $130,000 judgment against Pomona in a ruling Thursday and awarded Doe “his costs on appeal,” concluding “there was no abuse of discretion” by Judge Strobel. “We are very pleased the Court of Appeal affirmed the order for Pomona College to pay $130,000 of attorney fees incurred in overturning the college’s bad Title IX decision,” Doe’s lawyer Mark Hathaway said. “The student has graduated but Pomona College withheld his degree for a year and the student is still fighting to clear his record.”
thecollegefix-Greg Piper
