Guys, keep in mind regarding this lawsuit that as of April of last year, there were over 100 colleges/universities under investigation for whether schools violated title IX in investigating sexual violence cases. Just to name a few - Michigan State, UVA, LSU, Vanderbilt, Texas A & M, SMU, Oklahoma State, North Carolina, Oregon, Baylor, Arizona State, Florida State (Winston) & Missouri. Many of these cases involve student athletes as either the accused or accusers. With the situation with AJ and others, one had to think that an attorney was going to reach out to victims and pursue this issue. Just the society we live in.
I pulled the following from an article by a lawyer who defended Winston in his title IX hearing:
Regarding title IX civil litigation, in the event of alleged sexual misconduct, a plaintiff must still prove that there was in fact gender or sexual discrimination. The sexual misconduct must be so severe so as to create a hostile environment that deprives the student of educational programming. A school mishandling of an alleged rape does not necessarily trigger a valid Title IX claim. Lastly, a plaintiff must show that they reported the alleged sexual misconduct to the appropriate person and that the person’s response evinced “deliberate indifference.” In these types of cases, factors such as school policy, school investigative history, and the general atmosphere on campus will help measure the degree to which a school evinced “deliberate indifference.”
Plaintiffs’ attorneys are taking advantage of an unsettled situation and filing lawsuits against universities that are racing to comply with evolving Title IX requirements. Plaintiffs’ lawyers who sue under Title IX usually are given a second chance to litigate the same misconduct because the student who alleged sexual assault has already exhausted her administrative Title IX remedies. The grievance process, which is becoming increasingly more like a civil trial, is a test run allowing plaintiffs’ attorneys to try their case prior to filing a lawsuit against the university. Moreover, by allowing plaintiffs’ attorneys to bring these claims, schools become exposed to a second Title IX lawsuit which may have more merit, namely a lawsuit from a student who claims to have been falsely accused. False sexual assault or rape allegations can wreak unquantifiable reputational damage, and severely impact a student’s educational environment. In fact, there are currently a number of lawsuits pending nationwide where alleged student rapists are claiming their own Title IX cause of action. A university’s rush to appease counsel for students alleging sexual assault, without considering the ramifications on presumptively innocent students, can lead to two lawsuits against the university for the same incident.
One can see that there is also a danger in the accused filing a Title IX action, as well. To those that worry about the impact on recruiting, keep in mind that the Baylor accusations, on the surface, appear much more egregious, yet they just had the best signing class in school history. So, my point is not to say this is not a big deal, nor that we should only worry about the impact on recruiting, my point is that this is not at all uncommon. It is a byproduct of society. It is also more of a University issue than an athletic issue, although to our knowledge, athletes have been primarily the accused. The concern would be if the University appeared deliberately indifferent to the claims. Certainly, Butch Jones did not give evidence of indifference, as he has suspended every athlete that was accused until such time that the authorities deemed them innocent by not pursuing the accusation. My guess is that this will be headlines for a few days and then retreat to the legal system. It is likely that the Tennessean will have to periodically bring it back to the forefront to continue keeping it in the news.
I pulled the following from an article by a lawyer who defended Winston in his title IX hearing:
Regarding title IX civil litigation, in the event of alleged sexual misconduct, a plaintiff must still prove that there was in fact gender or sexual discrimination. The sexual misconduct must be so severe so as to create a hostile environment that deprives the student of educational programming. A school mishandling of an alleged rape does not necessarily trigger a valid Title IX claim. Lastly, a plaintiff must show that they reported the alleged sexual misconduct to the appropriate person and that the person’s response evinced “deliberate indifference.” In these types of cases, factors such as school policy, school investigative history, and the general atmosphere on campus will help measure the degree to which a school evinced “deliberate indifference.”
Plaintiffs’ attorneys are taking advantage of an unsettled situation and filing lawsuits against universities that are racing to comply with evolving Title IX requirements. Plaintiffs’ lawyers who sue under Title IX usually are given a second chance to litigate the same misconduct because the student who alleged sexual assault has already exhausted her administrative Title IX remedies. The grievance process, which is becoming increasingly more like a civil trial, is a test run allowing plaintiffs’ attorneys to try their case prior to filing a lawsuit against the university. Moreover, by allowing plaintiffs’ attorneys to bring these claims, schools become exposed to a second Title IX lawsuit which may have more merit, namely a lawsuit from a student who claims to have been falsely accused. False sexual assault or rape allegations can wreak unquantifiable reputational damage, and severely impact a student’s educational environment. In fact, there are currently a number of lawsuits pending nationwide where alleged student rapists are claiming their own Title IX cause of action. A university’s rush to appease counsel for students alleging sexual assault, without considering the ramifications on presumptively innocent students, can lead to two lawsuits against the university for the same incident.
One can see that there is also a danger in the accused filing a Title IX action, as well. To those that worry about the impact on recruiting, keep in mind that the Baylor accusations, on the surface, appear much more egregious, yet they just had the best signing class in school history. So, my point is not to say this is not a big deal, nor that we should only worry about the impact on recruiting, my point is that this is not at all uncommon. It is a byproduct of society. It is also more of a University issue than an athletic issue, although to our knowledge, athletes have been primarily the accused. The concern would be if the University appeared deliberately indifferent to the claims. Certainly, Butch Jones did not give evidence of indifference, as he has suspended every athlete that was accused until such time that the authorities deemed them innocent by not pursuing the accusation. My guess is that this will be headlines for a few days and then retreat to the legal system. It is likely that the Tennessean will have to periodically bring it back to the forefront to continue keeping it in the news.
