LAWSUIT: Univ.of Arkansas Punishes Exonerated Male After Female Accuser Goes on Media Blitz
A student found responsible for sexual assault claims that his accuser tried to commit suicide because he refused to stay with her after their consensual sexual encounter. The federal due-process lawsuit against the University of Arkansas alleges that it failed to follow its own rules and ran a Title IX investigation designed to “achieve a predetermined false and unsupported result” against the accused student. The suit claims Doe was deprived of 14th Amendment rights because the process was not “commensurate with the seriousness of the allegations and the potential discipline, sanctions, and repercussions he was facing.” The university “improperly shifted the burden” of proof to Doe in the appeal “to protect the University from the continued scrutiny regarding its treatment of sexual harassment cases and Jane Roe’s continued attacks and negative publicity.” Doe suggests that his accuser’s “media blitz” following the “confidential Title IX process” was the reason his initial exoneration was overturned on appeal. All of these circumstances show that the university and its officials “have demonstrated a pattern of inherent and systematic gender bias and discrimination against male students accused of misconduct,” the suit concludes.
thecollegefix By Greg Piper
