In what may amount to a landmark decision for college campuses, a Maryland jury has declared a man falsely accused of sexual assault the victim of sex-based harassment.
A male college student falsely accused of sexual assault scored a major victory for due process and equal rights late last month, after a federal jury found the University of Maryland failed to protect him from severe harassment after he was falsely accused and ultimately cleared through the school’s own Title IX process.
The jury sided with the falsely accused student — identified as John Doe in a federal lawsuit reviewed by The Daily Wire — who accused the University of Maryland of failing to protect him from severe harassment, including a student-led smear campaign, after he was fully cleared from from the female student’s allegations.
The case was heard before an Obama-appointed judge, Paula Xinis, and the jury found evidence that falsely accused man faced harassment that was “so severe, pervasive, and objectively offense that it deprived him of equal access to an educational opportunity or benefit at the University of Maryland.” It also found that the University of Maryland “was deliberately indifferent to the harassment.”
The ruling marks the first time that a jury has ever found that false sexual assault accusations can be considered sex-based harassment, according to the man’s attorney, Jason Greaves of the Binnall Law Group.
“This is the first case where a jury has found that false accusations of rape can constitute sexual harassment, and the first time a university has been found liable for deliberate indifference to that harassment,” Greaves told The Daily Wire. “This case is a landmark for falsely accused men in universities.”
Doe’s lawsuit was not about the money, but about clearing his name fully and making sure Title IX protects all students, Greaves explained. He sued for $1, though his win grants that his attorney fees with also be covered by the university. Importantly, the ruling could set precedent going forward for a larger monetary payout if a school refuses to protect falsely accused students.
“We asked for only $1 in damages because this case was not about money,” Greaves said. “Our client wanted accountability.”
“Hopefully, this jury has sent a message to universities across the country that Title IX protects all students, male and female, and that they cannot turn a blind eye to public humiliation campaigns, where false accusations of sexual assault are treated as a verdict,” he said.
“A school that will move heaven and earth for an accuser, then declare itself powerless once the accused has been cleared and is being publicly destroyed, has discriminated on the basis of sex,” the attorney added.
The ruling is particularly relevant in light of the so-called “Cornell 7” case, where seven males at Cornell University are accused of being involved in drugging and gang raping a female student. All the males, who maintain their innocence, were punished by the university in various capacities, with the harshest punishment including expulsion. Notably, the district attorney on the case at the time found, based on the accuser’s own statement, that the actions of the accuser were consensual and there was insufficient evidence to prosecute.
The Cornell accuser, years after the alleged assault, has now filed civil suit against the school, which could come with a big payday. The male’s photos were published in the school paper, while the accuser has been kept anonymous. This is also despite at least three of the males involved in the incident claiming that the female was the aggressor, with one even claiming he was too intoxicated to consent and considers himself the victim of sexual misconduct by the accuser. Additionally, one of the accused has sued Cornell after the panel cleared him of the two charges he was facing, but found him in the wrong for something he was not charged with. The student, who says he was never given a chance to defend himself from the charge, is currently in the appeal process.
The males have been plastered online. They have been smeared as rapists by Hollywood stars and politicians, on Facebook message boards; their parents and siblings have been doxxed, and at least one of the males has been harassed in person, on video. It’s unclear if Cornell has done anything recently to stop the harassment of the students still attending the school, or if they stepped in to stop any harassment that might have occurred years ago.
In the University of Maryland case, Doe was falsely accused of sexual assault by a female student, identified as Jane Roe, in October 2020. According to the complaint, Doe and another male student were accused of assaulting Roe, but the university’s Title IX investigation ultimately found both men “not responsible.” In Doe’s suit, it says that the investigation uncovered contradictory statements, witness testimony, text messages, and even forensic testing that undermined Roe’s account, including testing that found no semen on clothing she claimed contained evidence.
Notably, Doe’s suit says he had to pay upwards of $100,000 in legal fees during the taxing ten-month Title IX process to clear his name. Those fees are not included to be covered by the university in the most recent judgement.
Despite his exoneration, Doe said that Roe and leaders of the student organization Preventing Sexual Assault continued to publicly harass him, orchestrating a smear campaign against him. He was called a rapist, confronted in bars, shouted at, and, ultimately, the pressure campaign succeeded in getting him kicked off his lacrosse team after the team was directly contacted and pressured to remove him.
Through all this, the university refused to step in and protect him. He sued the University of Maryland, the co-presidents of Preventing Sexual Assault, and others, alleging Title IX discrimination and retaliation, equal-protection violations, defamation, and emotional distress.
Here’s direct language from Doe’s suit, obtained by The Daily Wire:
John Doe was fully exonerated of horrendous and malicious false allegations, the University of Maryland repeatedly refused to protect his rights as a student. The University allowed Doe to be publicly defamed as a rapist by students who worked closely with the University’s Title IX office. When Doe submitted his complaints to the University alleging violations of University policy, including retaliation and sexual harassment, the University ignored his complaints. Left with no other option, Doe files this complaint against Defendants for gender-based discrimination resulting in numerous violations of Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (20 U.S.C. § 1681 et seq.), violations of his right to equal protection, defamation, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
As for the Cornell case, it’s now in the very partisan hands of New York Attorney General Leticia James. It’s unclear what their fate with be, or if this most recent legal win for a wrongly accused campus male with play into the Cornell aftermath.
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