Saturday, July 05, 2014

Lawsuit against University in Denver

A former student at University of Denver is bringing a lawsuit against the school for violating Title IX in the ways they handled her reported sexual assault.
The details, provided by the woman, seem--though awful--far less complicated than other cases we have seen in the past few years. She believes she was drugged at a party and then raped at a student's apartment. She reported the rape to the police as soon as she got back to her dorm. She was taken to the hospital. The school launched an investigation (the police investigation did not lead to charges). It is at this point that the victim feels things were handled improperly. She reports not being given all the information--in writing--about how to proceed during the disciplinary hearing. For example, she did not know she did not have to be in the room with her alleged assailant during the hearing.
A school representative claims that the lawsuit was motivated by the fact that the victim did not like the findings of the disciplinary hearing. The board found that the student did not realize he was forcing sex on the victim.
The finding does seem kind of "off" given the physical evidence. I do not know how DU defines consent, but it seems hard to believe someone who has been drugged can give consent. I'm not sure though, given these early details, how much of a factor the finding is in this case.