FEDERAL JUDGE RULES: UConn Denied John Doe Due Process.
A federal judge has issued a temporary order requiring the University of Connecticut to reinstate a male student who had been banned from campus for two years amid a sexual misconduct investigation. John Doe said in a lawsuit that UConn denied him of his due process rights. John was TitleIX accused by Jane Roe of having non-consensual sex with her. John says the encounter was consensual and initiated by Jane.
A UConn investigator dismissed Doe’s account of events after a single interview and the school blocked him from enrolling in his final semester, according to the suit. As the disciplinary process continued, Doe was denied specifics of the complaint and not permitted to question any witnesses against him or present witnesses of his own.
U.S. District Judge Michael Shea in his ruling said the male student had shown that UConn’s procedures for investigating alleged misconduct and imposing discipline are so one-sided that he was denied an opportunity to present his side of events. “Despite the importance of credibility to the factual dispute, UConn’s disciplinary procedures hampered the plaintiff’s ability to present a meaningful defense on this issue.”
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