Marquette being sued over handling of sexual assault

Former student claims negligence

A former student has sued Marquette University in federal court, claiming it was deliberately indifferent and negligent in response to her report of a sexual assault by a fellow student in 2014.

The Illinois woman, identified only as “Jane Doe,” says the other student, identified only as KW, ignored her repeated rejections of his increasingly crude sexual advances. But on Aug. 24, 2014, the suit claims, she encountered KW while she was intoxicated, and he sexually assaulted her.

The suit claims Marquette public safety officials discouraged the woman and her parents from reporting the assault to Milwaukee police.

After police secured a warrant to arrest KW, Marquette refused to allow his arrest on campus. KW was charged and withdrew from Marquette that September. Earlier, he had been suspended in spring 2014 for misconduct toward another student but was allowed to return to school in fall 2014.

The suit claims Marquette retaliated against the woman for pursuing KW’s prosecution, tried to force her withdrawal over a low grade in a prerequisite course for her nursing program, put her on probation and refused to accept results of a drug test administered by her doctor.

In 2017, the woman transferred to a community college. Her suit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages.

Brian Dorrington, senior communications director for Marquette, said the university had not had much time to review the suit.

“We take any claim brought forward by our students extremely seriously and we will take the appropriate time to review it thoroughly,” he said in an email. “We care deeply about all of our students and their well-being is our highest priority.”