LAWSUIT: MSU Male Gets Consent. Female Does Not. She Sex Assaulted Him. Male is Punished.
A sober female MSU student performed sexual acts on an intoxicated male student without his consent and the scandal-plagued university blamed the male vicitm, suspending him for two years…’Roe surprised Doe by kissing him twice at the party, even though she had rejected his kiss the previous month. They fondled each other over their clothing in a fraternity member’s bedroom, then “held hands” as they walked to Doe’s dorm room,’ according to the lawsuit. Doe “reciprocated” Roe’s initiated sexual activity several times in his bedroom, asking for her consent at each step. By contrast, Roe never asked for Doe’s consent when she initiated oral sex and later genital contact with him. The “mutual gyrations” led to brief vaginal penetrations. At some point Roe stopped the encounter, left the dorm room. Roe filed a complaint with the Office of Institutional Equity four days later, claiming that Doe “had sex with her without her consent” that night. John Doe alleges that Michigan State’s sexual-assault investigation of him was “tainted from the outset with gender bias” and violated his due process rights. The university pursued a “blind, unlawful rush” to find “John Doe” guilty due to pressure the school was facing to avoid further “bad publicity,” as well as potential loss of federal funding, based on its previous handling of sexual-assault cases, Doe claims…Because there were no “eyewitnesses” to the encounter between Doe and Roe, the resolution of the investigation “turned solely upon a credibility contest between Roe and Doe.” Because MSU used a single-investigator procedure where one person serves as “prosecutor, investigator, judge and jury,” the university judged Doe guilty “without any checks and balances on sexual bias,” according to the lawsuit. The Department of Education’s proposed Title IX regulation, now under public comment, would give students more due process protections. This includes a prohibition of the single-investigator model and a presumption of innocence throughout the grievance process. Not only did the university suspend Doe for two years, but he’s banned from joining any fraternities if he returned.
The lawsuit says the Title IX proceeding prevented Doe from staying on track to graduate in 2020. He’s instead taking courses at a community college. Doe will have troubles getting into a future undergraduate or graduate university due to the investigation leaving a notation on his transcript. The lawsuit seeks economic compensation for damages to physical, emotional, and psychological well-being, as well as Doe’s reputation, future earnings and career prospects.
thecollegefix By Ethan Berman
