Six file sweeping sex assault suit naming UT
Six women filed a federal lawsuit on Tuesday claiming the University of Tennessee has created a student culture that enables sexual assaults by student-athletes, especially football players, and then uses an unusual, legalistic adjudication process that is biased against victims who step forward.
The lawsuit, f iled by plaintiffs identified only as “Jane Does,” accuses five Tennessee athletes of sexual assault. They are former basketball player Yemi Makanjuola, former football players A.J. Johnson, Michael Williams and Riyahd Jones and a current football player named as a “John Doe.”
The lawsuit also details an incident involving a female student who says she was sexually assaulted by a non-athlete, who was named a John Doe. The alleged assault took place after attending a football team party at Vol Hall, a campus dorm where she was served drinks by former UT player Treyvon Paulk, the lawsuit says.
In making its case that the university enabled an environment of bad behavior and used a disciplinary system that favored the players, the lawsuit cited more than a dozen incidents involving football players that included underage drinking, sexual harassment, assault, armed robbery and sexual assaults that did not involve the Jane Doe plaintiffs.
The plaintiffs say that UT violated t he Title IX laws, which protect st udents from gender discrimination in federa l ly funded education programs. UT created a hostile sexual environment for female students by showing “deliberate indifference and a clearly unreasonable response after a sexual assault that causes a student to endure additional harassment,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit says blame for the hostile policies should be placed at the very top of the UT administration , sayi ng t hose leaders “had actual notice of previous sexual assaults and rapes by football players, yet acted with delib- erate indifference ... and failed to take corrective actions.”
The university “delayed the investigation process until the athlete perpetrators transferred to another school or graduated without sanction or discipline,” the lawsuit says. Johnson was suspended at the end of his senior season but was able to participate in the UT commencement ceremony.
The university released a detailed statement saying, in part:
“Like the many other college campuses facing the challenges of sexual assault, (UT) has devoted significant time and energy to provide a safe environment for our students, to educate and raise awareness about sexual assault, and to encourage students to come forward and report sexual assault. When the University receives a report of sexual assault, we offer care and support to the person who came forward and work to investigate and resolve the matter in a timely, thorough, and equitable manner. When warranted, the University takes disciplinary action but will not do so in a manner that violates state law or the constitutional due process rights of our students.
“In the situations identified in the lawsuit filed today; the University acted lawfully and in good faith, and we expect a court to agree. Any assertion that we do not take sexual assault seriously enough is simply not true.”