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College vacates findings that led to expulsion of student who then sued under Title IX, arguing that handling of sexual misconduct allegations discriminated against men who were accused.
Swarthmore College has vacated the findings of a campus judicial process that led to a lawsuit that charged the college with gender-based discrimination against male students accused of sexual misconduct.
The federal judge in the case then agreed to a joint motion from the college and the student (identified only as John Doe) to dismiss the lawsuit, one of several filed by men under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. The suits charge that colleges -- facing intense pressure from female students and the U.S. Education Department to crack down on sexual assault -- are violating the rights of male students accused of misconduct.
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The joint motion for dismissal said that after the student was expelled and the college president denied his appeal, "additional information became available which both parties believe raises questions about the impartiality of the college judiciary committee panel that heard John’s case. On the basis of this new information, John has requested that the college vacate the panel’s findings and sanction. The college agrees that the new information raises sufficient questions about the fairness of the hearing to warrant vacating the panel’s findings and sanction."
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The former student's lawsuit charged that there were numerous flaws in Swarthmore's handling of the case, including that an investigation first concluded that he had done nothing wrong, but that the finding was reopened after the college was accused by students of failing to properly investigate sexual assault allegations -- and the Education Department launched an inquiry into those charges. The student's expulsion, the suit said, was a result of all the outside attention, and not the merits of the case.
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The lawsuit also said that the charges were brought 19 months after the alleged interaction occurred, that the women who brought the charges admitted to consensual sexual intercourse with the student after the two alleged incidents (which did not involve intercourse), and that the actions against him violated several of the college's rules about timely hearings and due process.
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It looks like the man in the rape allegation incident was the target of false allegations, which led to him being expelled despite the lack of any evidence of wrongdoing on his part.