A male Columbia University student and Marine Corps veteran just won a settlement from his school following a woman’s sexual assault allegations against him.
Ben Feibleman used his real name when filing a lawsuit against Columbia in 2019, though his female accuser still remains unnamed. The New York Times did its best to downplay the settlement, which reportedly included an undisclosed amount of money as well as a statement from the university to potential employers that Feibleman is an alumnus in good standing. Columbia and Feibleman settled out of court, as is typical for these cases. Columbia told the Times that it stood by its findings against Feibleman. Feibleman’s attorney, Kimberly Lau, called the settlement “a victory.”
The Daily Wire previously reported on Feibleman’s lawsuit, which included an audio recording of his accuser begging him for sex and him repeatedly telling her he didn’t want to because he thought she might be intoxicated. Feibleman started recording his encounter with the woman because he suspected that, with today’s allegations free-for-all, things might go wrong. The Daily Wire will refer to his accuser as Jane Doe.
Columbia’s adjudicators ignored Feibleman’s audio recording and scoffed at his allegations that he was the one who was sexually assaulted. The adjudicators reportedly told him there was “insufficient evidence” that he was assaulted (despite the audio recording) and that even if he had been assaulted, he would have liked it, therefore, Jane was “not responsible” for any alleged assault. Columbia found Feibleman responsible and retroactively expelled him and revoked his diploma (he had been allowed to graduate during the investigation).
Feibleman told The Daily Caller’s Betsy Rothstein in January 2020 that he and Jane knew each other a little from their journalism classes. After an event (which Feibleman said wasn’t the sort of place to get wasted), Jane allegedly asked him to put his head on her lap.
“She later sneaked kisses when her friends weren’t looking. She poured beer down his throat during a drinking game. Then she asked him to walk with her to the roof, where she climbed atop the water tower and beckoned him. She took off her top while he unclasped her bra,” Rothstein reported.
The two engaged in some sexual activity and she allegedly insulted him for not wanting to go near the edge of the water tower. He said she performed a “perfect backward roll off the side of the water tower,” taunted him for being afraid of heights even though he was a Marine, and they continued to flirt and engage in sexually charged activities.
His audio recording of her taped her continuously begging him for sex – a total of 29 admissions. He told her repeatedly he wanted to but thought she was too drunk (he didn’t, but said he used that as a “nuclear option” to get out of the situation). She said she wanted rough sex and allegedly pulled his pants down and tried to “force her mouth on his penis.”
When he’d try to leave, she’d cry. If he declined to have sex with her, she’d say he thought she was “gross.” When he tried to leave again, she wouldn’t let him.
Throughout the tape, he declined to have sex with her even though she begged. After he was finally able to leave, she allegedly told her roommate that “Ben tried to have sex with me.” She also told this to her boyfriend who questioned her level of intoxication. The next morning, she told Columbia that Feibleman sexually assaulted her.
During Columbia’s inquisition, Ben was not allowed to mention a medical report regarding Jane’s intoxication level, which was based on his audio recording and 700 photographs. A witness who spoke on Jane’s behalf also allegedly reached out to Ben after he was punished to say Jane sometimes mixed pills with alcohol, something Ben would not have known.
Also, just because someone doesn’t remember something doesn’t mean someone else was responsible. Jane appeared sober to Ben, and there is no way he could have known if she was in a black-out state, where the brain does not form short-term memories.
The settlement at least allows Ben to move forward with his life.