Court asked to reconsider NU lawsuit

The student whose lawsuit against Northwestern University was dismissed last month has asked the court to reconsider or vacate its decision based on new evidence. The initial dismissal was due to a lack of evidence that NU showed deliberate indifference in responding to the student's report of sexual assault by her philosophy professor.

The motion includes statements from the report of the investigation conducted by the Title IX coordinator. The writer herself expressed concern that the professor's behavior might be a pattern in which he uses his power as a professor to gain sexual and/or romantic access to female students. There are other statements from faculty members expressing no surprise at the allegations against Professor Peter Ludlow given his tendency to date former students. And there is documentation that Ludlow's department chair approached him several years ago about potentially inappropriate relationships with graduate students. (Ludlow has a defamation lawsuit pending against a graduate student who filed a complaint alleging a non-consensual sexual encounter. The first link above is to Erin's post about the many legal actions around this case.)

The student's motion also states that she continues to be a victim of retaliation by the university. This claim, which was also made in the initial lawsuit, was dismissed. She is reporting new retaliatory actions. 

In short, the legal drama continues with apparently none of it yet resolved.