Students, alums file federal class action lawsuit against Brown claiming U. fails to protect students from sexual violence

Four women filed a federal class action lawsuit against the university on Aug. 6, claiming that they not only neglected protecting their students from sexual harassment and abuse, but also “actively prevented reporting of such harm”.

The class of lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the Rhode Island District includes all female students at the university from 2018 to date, estimated at 4,000 students, according to the press release. The four listed plaintiffs – Chloe Burns ’19, Taja Hirata-Epstein ’20, Katiana Soenen ’24, and Carter Woodruff ’22 – are all current college students or young alums.

The lawsuit represents the latest advancement in student activism to curb on-campus sexual assault and reform the university’s response to sexual and gender-based violence – a decades of campaign which has seen a resurgence in the last year, led by groups like End sexual violence and the Instagram account Voices of Brown.

The lawsuit describes the experiences of all four women of sexual assault during their studies, including unsolicited recordings, abusive relationships, assault and rape. When they brought their allegations to the attention of the university, they allege in the lawsuit that employees “discouraged or even openly prevented proper reporting”. In addition, plaintiffs allege that the complaints submitted were “ignored and inadequately investigated or dealt with”.

“Brown doesn’t even do the bare minimum here,” said Kimberly Evans of Grant & Eisenhofer, who represents the plaintiffs in the lawsuit, to The Herald. “This is not a one-off situation – it is a ubiquitous and widespread problem where the university does not even follow its own guidelines, let alone the federal law guidelines of Title IX.”

Student activism such as the “End Sexual Violence” movement also met resistance from the university, the lawsuit states: Administrators only met with student activists after “repeated inquiries” and made no “substantial” changes.

“Brown survivors are being silenced, injured and discouraged from seeking justice from the university,” the four plaintiffs said in a joint statement in a press release. “Brown’s recent history has been marked by numerous student riots led by survivors and their allies; However, the university never responded to these requests for justice with anything other than reluctant, minor changes to policies and procedures. “

Cass Cliatt, senior vice president of communications, wrote in an email to The Herald that the university has made it an “institutional priority” to create an environment free of tolerance to sexual violence. The complaint has not yet been served on the university.

“Brown has taken a strategic and sustainable approach to addressing sexual harassment and gender-based violence on campus, based on transformative recommendations made by the university’s Sexual Assault Task Force in 2015,” wrote Cliatt. “Reflects the increase in students reporting sexual violence, greater confidence in the decision-making process, data from students who say they feel safer with Brown, and the ongoing partnership between students and the university on these critical issues Brown’s aggressive behavior against dealing with sexual violence. “

On March 2, the office of Title IX started a new Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct Policy that complements existing regulations to provide a broader definition of sexual harassment, categorizing sexual exploitation and voyeurism, prostitution, the dissemination of a person’s sexual images, the bare genitals, and the deliberate exposure of a person sexually transmitted infection as prohibited behavior.

A few weeks later the office of Title IX started a new online reporting form that allows students to anonymously report sexual harassment. The form, designed by former Title IX program officer Rene Davis, was created in response to a 2019 survey that found that 31.2 percent of college students surveyed had “little or no knowledge” about where they experienced sexual violence or gender-based harassment should report, while 30.4 percent are “very or very well informed”.

However, according to Evans and the lawsuit, the university has failed to adhere to both its own policies and statutory guidelines – including by not properly training students and staff on sexual misconduct and not pursuing graduate cases, despite the university’s policy that there is no “time limit for filing a formal complaint”.

The failure of the university to adequately handle sexual assault and harassment corresponds to the definition of gender and gender discrimination under the federal law of Title IX, argues the lawsuit. The plaintiffs are owed compensation for emotional distress, pain, suffering, medical expenses and job loss, along with a number of other problems they have encountered.

In addition to financial damage, the lawsuit calls for a permanent injunction ensuring due process, new steps to investigate reports of discrimination and disciplinary action against students who violate the Title IX policy.

“The aim of this litigation is to make a real, meaningful and lasting change in the way Brown is handling Title IX sexual assault allegations,” said Elizabeth Bailey of Saltz Mongeluzzi & Bendesky, the second law firm the plaintiffs represent.

“There have been cases across the country where the change we’re trying to make at Brown has been successfully implemented,” added Evans.

Evans said the legal path is currently unclear: the university could reach an out-of-court settlement with the plaintiffs or the case could be brought to court.

“What happens next,” said Bailey, “depends on Brown.”

This story evolves. Check back for updates.

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