UMass Amherst sued over handling of sexual misconduct investigation, proceedings
AMHERST — A former male student is suing the University of Massachusetts Amherst in federal court over its handling of sexual misconduct allegations against him, which his lawsuit characterizes as “gender-based discrimination.”
The lawsuit, filed on Oct. 11, names as defendants the university, assistant dean of students Louis Ward, associate dean of students Patricia Cardoso-Erase and Title IX coordinator Debora Ferreira.
Among the allegations in the anonymous John Doe’s lawsuit are that university officials waited too long — 330 days, until after Doe’s graduation — to schedule a sexual misconduct hearing, that officials intimidated potential witnesses from Doe’s fraternity, that the university is improperly withholding his degree and violating his due-process rights, that UMass’s misconduct investigations and hearings are flawed and that its policies and procedures are “biased against male students.”
“The university has no comment on the litigation,” UMass Amherst spokesman Ed Blaguszewski said in a statement. Requests for comment from Doe’s lawyers went unanswered on Friday.
Read more: http://www.gazettenet.com/UMass-Amherst-faces-lawsuit-over-handling-of-sexual-misconduct-investigation-proceedings-13244178