BOULDER — An anonymous male student is suing the University of Colorado for violating his civil rights under Title IX, the federal gender-equity law, after he was found guilty of sexual assault by the Boulder campus last year.
The student, identified in court documents only as “John Doe,” says he was wrongfully accused and suspended for three semesters after a night of consensual sex.
The lawsuit comes amid an unrelated U.S. Department of Education investigation into CU, which began last summer when a female sexual assault victim complained CU didn’t do enough to protect her.
With lawsuits and investigations spreading across college campuses nationwide, schools are struggling to strike the difficult balance between supporting sexual assault victims and punishing their assailants, and protecting the rights of accused students.
This month, CU joined a growing list of schools around the country facing lawsuits from male students pushing back against university sexual misconduct charges. To do so, they’re invoking Title IX, a law that has historically been used to protect the rights of female students.
The male student’s complaint was filed in U.S. District Court on Nov. 7, but it was sealed. An amended complaint was filed Friday and made public.
“CU-Boulder has created an environment where an accused male student is fundamentally denied due process by being prosecuted through the conduct process under a presumption of guilt,” according to the complaint. “Such a one-sided process deprived John Doe, as a male student, of educational opportunities at CU-Boulder on the basis of his sex.”
His attorneys asked to file the complaint using a pseudonym, a request granted by Judge Michael Hegarty, because they feared retaliation against their client, according to court documents.
One of the student’s attorneys, Denver-based Michael Mirabella, declined to comment and referred all questions to the Nesenoff and Miltenberg law firm in New York City.
That firm is representing students accused of sexual assault at several colleges, including Vassar College, Columbia University and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst.
Members of the firm did not respond to phone messages and e-mails from the Daily Camera.
CU chief legal officer Patrick O’Rourke said the university was made aware of the lawsuit recently.
“We received the complaint, and we’ll respond to it after we’ve had a chance to review the case and the allegations,” O’Rourke said.
“John Doe” is among a growing group who say schools presume guilt while investigating alleged sexual misconduct.
His lawyers write in the complaint that CU’s “investigation was slanted in favor of Jane Doe and took her statements at face-value, while mischaracterizing John Doe’s statements.”
As the White House, advocacy groups, students and parents press schools to end sexual assaults on college campuses, some are concerned universities may be overcorrecting to appear tough on sexual misconduct.
In an April newsletter, Brett Sokolow, executive director of the Association of Title IX administrators, wrote about schools that mistakenly found male students responsible of sexual misconduct when alcohol was involved.
