PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP/WPRI) — A judge is allowing a former Brown University student who says he was wrongly accused of sexual misconduct and suspended for 2 ½ years to move forward with his lawsuit against the Ivy league school.
U.S. District Judge William Smith on Monday allowed claims of gender discrimination, breach of contract and other claims by the former student, who filed the lawsuit anonymously as “John Doe.”
The former student says Brown’s disciplinary process is stacked against men accused of sexual misconduct.
Eyewitness News spoke with the former student’s attorney, Andrew Miltenberg.
“In our view, Brown not only botched this investigation and has completely derailed this young man’s life,” Miltenberg said. “To call him depressed and desponded at times is an understatement,” he added.
The incident happened in 2014.
Brown had asked that the lawsuit be dismissed, arguing the school followed its own policies and the student showed no evidence of discrimination.
The judge noted that there have been several recent federal lawsuits brought by male students against universities that found they committed sexual assault.
The former student’s lawyer said that due to the serious nature of sexual assault cases, he believes they should be handled by law enforcement instead of universities.
Miltenberg suggests that the way this case plays out in court could set a precedent for how colleges handle future sexual assault cases.
