MAJOR VICTORY for Jack Montague in Yale Lawsuit
It’s been more than four years since former Yale basketball captain Jack Montague had a sexual relationship with a woman who would eventually accuse him of sexual assault. He was expelled, and sued the university. A judge has denied Yale’s motion for summary judgement, so unless a settlement is discussed, the case may be heading for a trial…Yale expelled Montague on the cusp of the basketball team’s first appearance in the NCAA tournament since 1962. He claimed the expulsion was intended to make him the “poster boy” for campus sexual assault, so Yale could show the community and Department of Education that it was tough on sexual perpetrators. Now U.S. District Judge Alfred Covello, the same judge who previously ruled Yale must turn over its sexual assault training materials, has ruled against the university’s attempts to get the case dismissed.
According to Montague’s lawyer Max Stern, Montague’s complaint alleges that Montague’s expulsion was “the result of an unfair and biased disciplinary process which had been programed from the start to result in his dismissal.” Per the court documents, Montague argued that the University used misleading confidential information to manipulate his sexual partner into submitting a formal complaint against him and appointed an individual who had participated in the aforementioned manipulation as the chair of the University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct hearing panel. It also alleged that the fact-finding process and hearing were biased and suppressed information that would have supported his innocence, and denied him the “fair, thorough and impartial” process that it says he should have been given under both the law and Yale’s policies. The judge ruled that Montague produced enough evidence on these claims to warrant a trial for the case. Covello said there were “genuine issues of material fact” for a jury to explore in Montague’s claims for breach of contract and lack of “basic fairness” in his proceeding. Covello wrote several times in his decision that Montague presented enough evidence to show Yale acted improperly by violating “their own procedures,” “intentionally manipulated” those same procedures to get a formal complaint filed against Montague, held a hearing in which the impartiality was questionable, and showed an “improper motive” in their meetings about the case. A jury will also investigate whether Title IX officials had an “improper motive” in attending meetings that allegedly pressured his accuser to participate in a formal complaint against him.
“Montague looks forward to presenting his case to a jury.” Stern Judge’s Ruling on Defendants Motion for Summary Judgement
Major Victory for Montague in Yale lawsuit-KC Johnson
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