A student expelled from Rider University after being accused of campus sexual assault is suing the school, alleging the process was biased after a school administrator openly admitted he was “going against” the accused.
The student, identified as John Doe in his lawsuit against the university, was expelled after what he says was consensual sexual activity in which he never took his clothes off. His accuser would change her story when talking to police and claim he forced her to perform oral sex on him.
It was the wee hours of the morning on Oct. 18, 2015, when John Doe and his friends returned from an off-campus party. Doe was not drunk, as he was the designated driver. He and his friend went to the boys’ restroom upon returning, where two women were, for some reason.
When Doe left the restroom, one of his friends was talking to the two women. The women had been drinking, but were in no way incapacitated, Doe’s lawsuit alleges. The girls did not slur their words, had no trouble standing or walking and were able to carry on a conversation. The four students engaged in conversation for several minutes before Doe’s friend suggested heading back to his dorm room. The girls agreed and proceeded to the dorm room willingly, where Doe and one of the two women made out. Doe says he never even removed his clothes, not even his sneakers, whereas the woman removed her own shirt and bra. The encounter lasted no more than 20 minutes before the woman’s friends knocked on the door and she left.
Doe believes the woman’s friends saw the hickey and her shirt on backwards and assumed it was a non-consensual encounter, because shortly after leaving Doe, she reported it as such to campus Public Safety.
Doe later learned that his accuser told campus Public Safety that “she did not believe that the acts performed involved either her, or John[‘s] genitals.” Two hours later she would reaffirm that statement, and add that she “insisted on staying” with Doe even after her other female friend left the room.
But hours later, in the afternoon of Oct. 18, Doe’s accuser, along with her parents, would meet with Rider dean Anthony Campbell. He saw the hickey on her neck as a bruise that must have meant she was assaulted. He urged her to report to the police.
Now, the accuser would tell police that Doe “forcibly push[ed] her head down and plac[ed] his penis in her mouth.” Now she claimed to be the victim of a sexual assault. Her friend — who had claimed it was dark in the room — said she was able to see Doe penetrate her friend with his fingers and push her head to his groin. The friend also now claimed she had to force her way out of the room, even though she had previously said she simply left (there doesn’t appear to be a reason as to why she had to escape the room but left her friend behind).
The police did not pursue the case since the accuser’s story had changed dramatically.
But Rider suspended Doe and his friend the next day, and wouldn’t even tell Doe what the specifics of the allegation were against him (his lawyers found out later).
Campbell allegedly told Doe that he was “going against” him, and the process backs that up. Rider deviated from its own official policy several times in ways that made it harder for Doe to defend himself. Though the school promised to impartially investigate the claims, the school’s outside counsel told Doe’s attorneys, weeks before Doe’s hearing, that “Because an individual that is under the influence of alcohol cannot give consent, any activity that occurred in the dorm room was non-consensual.”
Rider’s policy doesn’t say “under the influence,” it says “incapacitated,” which the accuser was not.
It was clear to Doe that the school had predetermined his guilt prior to the hearing. While most schools issue multiple page reports based on their investigation, Rider provided Doe with only a one-page letter saying it was charging him with sexual assault and he could be expelled. The letter did not identify what part of the school’s policy Doe violated. Doe asked the school to clarify what the accusations were against him so he could adequately prepare a defense. He was denied multiple times.
So naturally, he found responsible and expelled. He is now suing on eight counts, including breach of contract and gender discrimination.
Ashe Schow is a commentary writer for the Washington Examiner.
