Student says U of T mishandled assault
Investigation called ‘disorganized’ in human rights complaint
A University of Toronto student has filed a human rights application against the institution, alleging the school failed to adequately investigate and handle her sexual assault complaint.
Tamsyn Riddle, a 20-year-old Trinity College student, alleges she was sexually assaulted by another student in the spring of 2015.
According to the human rights application filed Tuesday, the University of Toronto and Trinity College “discriminated against Ms. Riddle based on sex by failing to properly investigate and remedy the assault that she experienced and by failing to provide Ms. Riddle with a safe, discrimination-free learning environment.”
The application alleges, among other things, that the investigation was disorganized and delayed and that staff were dismissive of Riddle’s concerns. The school placed restrictions on the alleged perpetrator’s movements around campus. Riddle’s application, however, claims the restrictions were “haphazard and insufficient.”
“I was made to feel that this wasn’t a really serious issue,” Riddle told the Star.
“To me, it feels like (the process with the school) was intended just to do the bare minimum to make sure I wouldn’t speak up or I wouldn’t take action against the university.”
None of the allegations in the human rights application have been proven in the tribunal.
Riddle did not report the alleged assault to the police.
Terry McQuaid, the University of Toronto’s executive director of personal safety, high risk and sexual violence prevention and support, told the Star she could not comment about a specific case.
“The university will respond through legal counsel and the (Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario) process,” she said.
McQuaid said the school has a new sexual violence policy, which came into effect in January, and has opened centres on each campus that will provide support for individuals who have experienced sexual assault.
“We are actively reaching out to the community and looking to create spaces where survivors can report and disclose and feel that they have options,” McQuaid said.
According to the application, in April 2015, Riddle was “sexually assaulted by another student while attending a party hosted at Trinity College.”
Following the assault, the application claims that Riddle “became aware” the alleged perpetrator had also assaulted her friend.
Riddle and her friend reported the incidents to the school, according to the application.
The application states Riddle was initially dissuaded from contacting police by Trinity College’s assistant dean of students, Adam Hogan, who told her that route might leave her “disappointed,” the application says. Hogan also offered to discuss the concept of consent with the alleged perpetrator, but Riddle chose to make a formal complaint instead.
The Star reached out to all staff named in the application. The Star was referred back to McQuaid.
The application also says that Rid- dle was told by Trinity dean of arts Michael Ratcliffe not to go the media because he “had recently seen death threats against feminists on a blog and he ‘would hate to see something like that’ happen to them.”
The investigation — which took approximately 17 months to conclude — was “disorganized and delayed,” the application says.
After she made a formal complaint in the spring of 2015, an investigator was assigned to Riddle’s case, the application says. Through the summer, Riddle claims, she was sent to different administrators, “each suggesting that someone else could help her and answer her questions about what action would be taken against the perpetrator.”
In September, five months after the alleged assault, Riddle — who had requested the alleged perpetrator be expelled from school — was told that interim restrictions would be placed on his movements around campus.
She received a list of the restrictions the following month, which included him having to move out of residence, not take part in any social events or activities (with the exception of one) at the college and to have no contact with the complainants, according to her application.
The alleged perpetrator violated some of the restrictions, including “repeatedly returning to the residence despite not being permitted,” the application alleges.
The restrictions were expanded in November to include ensuring courses on the alleged perpetrator and the complainants’ schedules did not overlap.
Riddle also received a three-page investigation report. The report was “merely a summary of allegations and the perpetrator’s response. It did not advance Ms. Riddle’s complaint in any meaningful way and did not contain any recommendations or findings. This summary also contained spelling and factual errors,” the application claims.
The investigation process concluded suddenly in August of 2016 with no input or consultation from Riddle, the application says. Riddle was told by a school official that an agreement had been reached between the alleged perpetrator and the school.
“This agreement was essentially the same as the restrictions that had previously been placed on the perpetrator. Ms. Riddle had no input into this process or outcome,” the application says.
“This process completely took away any trust and love I had for U of T and Trinity as institutions, making me view university as something to survive rather than an important educational and social experience,” Riddle says in the application.
Riddle’s human rights application is the second high-profile application made against a Toronto-area university over its handling of a sexual assault complaint in recent years.
In 2015, York University student Mandi Gray made a human application complaint against her school alleging she was unsupported and discriminated against after reporting a sexual assault. The complaint was eventually settled, with no admis- sion of liability by York or concession by Gray.
Gray’s attacker, Mustafa Ururyar, was found guilty of sexual assault last year. He is currently appealing his conviction. The judge’s “unusual approach” in the case was recently questioned by the appeal judge.
The Ontario government passed legislation mandating policy to deal with sexual assault at post-secondary institutions after a 2014 Star investigation found most campuses did not have such a special policy. At the time of the investigation, just nine of 78 public universities and no colleges had special policies in place.
Riddle is asking for $40,000 for general damages for “the stress, anxiety and academic setbacks” caused by the investigation process and failure to provide a safe learning environment. She is also asking for “public interest” remedies from the school, to ensure other students do not have the same experience.
For example, she’s asking for better communication channels, timelines on action, legal counsel for sexual assault survivors who complain to the school and an external audit about the prevalence of sexual assault on campus.
“This process completely took away any trust and love I had for U of T and Trinity as institutions.” TAMSYN RIDDLE UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO STUDENT