Talk about a toxic relationship.
A male medical student at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School (UTSW) was expelled after his former fiancée accused him of physical assault. The Daily Wire will not reveal their names and will instead refer to them as John Doe and Jane Roe.
John and Jane met in March 2015 and moved in together in August 2015. Jane, according to John’s lawsuit, had a drug and alcohol problem, which led her to drive recklessly and lose her license and “lie about her work and school history.”
In mid-April 2016, John told Jane that if she did not stop drinking he would leave. Jane moved out. On April 30, 2016, John noticed that his prescription Adderall and available refills were missing. He reported the missing drugs to his doctor so that he wouldn’t be held responsible if they were found “in the hands of someone else.”
On May 8, 2016, Jane was pulled over and found with John’s prescription. She was charged with possession of a controlled substance, according to court documents. John claims Jane “tried to get him to provide a false affidavit to corroborate the story she told the police—which was that [John] had left the pills in the car—to get her off the charges,” according to court documents. John refused to help her, and believes that she then purchased “spy ware” and pretended to want to get back together with him so she could secretly record him saying she had not stolen the pills.
John agreed to let Jane move back into his second bedroom. She began coming home drunk after work and arguing with John. At one point, John partially deflated one of Jane’s tires to keep her from driving while intoxicated. On another occasion, Jane grabbed John’s computer off his desk while he was working and tried to leave the apartment. John grabbed the computer back. Jane stumbled and fell, and John, according to court documents, asked if she was okay since she had previously fallen at work.
John also says in court documents that, bizarrely, Jane started asking him to hit her and then started saying “stop” and that he was hurting her. He later learned that Jane had been recording the conversation to use against him.
John says he never hit Jane.
The next day, Jane called UTSW police to claim John had physically assaulted her. After an interview with UTSW’s associate dean for student affairs, the school decided there wasn’t enough evidence to punish John.
A month later, the school said Jane provided additional evidence, including an audio recording of the alleged incident, and that John would be expelled.
A criminal investigation into Jane’s claims continued, and police ultimately determined that Jane deleted audio files to make it seem like John was attacking her. The photos of the bruises she claimed were from John were also determined to be from her fall at work several days before the argument.
U.S. District Judge Jane Boyle upheld John’s Title IX (anti-gender discrimination) and due process claims, citing “evidentiary weaknesses” of the school’s case, while dismissing other claims. This allowed John’s lawsuit against the school to move forward.
The case undermines a particular weakness in allowing schools to conduct pseudo investigations — they have neither the means nor the expertise to truly analyze evidence and determine the truth.
