Jane Doe v. Univ. of Ky.

357 F. Supp. 3d 620
CourtDistrict Court, E.D. Kentucky
DecidedJanuary 11, 2019
DocketCivil Case No. 5:15-cv-296-JMH
StatusPublished
Cited by4 cases

This text of 357 F. Supp. 3d 620 (Jane Doe v. Univ. of Ky.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, E.D. Kentucky primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Jane Doe v. Univ. of Ky., 357 F. Supp. 3d 620 (E.D. Ky. 2019).

Opinion

Joseph M. Hood, Senior U.S. District Judge

This matter comes before the Court on Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Third Amended Complaint. [DE 60]. Having considered the matter fully, and being otherwise sufficiently advised, the undersigned will grant Defendant's Motion to Dismiss Third Amended Complaint [DE 60].

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

On October 2, 2014, Plaintiff was allegedly raped in her University of Kentucky ("UK") dorm room by John Doe ("Student B"), [redacted]. [DE 57, at 2-3]. While Plaintiff resided in a UK dorm room, she was enrolled as a freshman student at Bluegrass Community and Technical College ("BCTC"), a community college located on UK's campus. Id. Also on October 2, 2014, Plaintiff called the UK Police Department from her dorm room to report the alleged rape. Id. at 4. UK Police Officer Laura Andrews (now Sizemore) responded to Plaintiff's call. Id. Then, Officer Andrews drove Plaintiff and Plaintiff's roommate to UK's Chandler Hospital, where Plaintiff received a Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner ("SANE") examination. Id.

On October 3, 2014, Officer Andrews notified Director of the Office of Student Conduct Denise Simpson, the acting Dean of Students, of the alleged rape. [DE 57, at 4; DE 60, at 4]. Shortly after the October 2, 2014 incident, Plaintiff was allegedly harassed on both campus and social media. [DE 57, at 4]. Also on October 3, 2014, UK issued Student B a no-contact order and interim suspension and notified both Plaintiff and Student B that a student disciplinary hearing was scheduled for October 8, 2014. [DE 57, at 5].

On October 8, 2014, the first student disciplinary hearing was held. Id. Due to a scheduling conflict in which Student B was required to appear before the Fayette District Court for an arraignment on criminal charges, Student B was unbale to attend the first hearing. [DE 60, at 5 (citing [DE 57, at 5; DE 60-2] ) ]. Prior to the first hearing, Student B notified UK of his scheduling conflict and requested a continuance of the hearing, and UK denied Student B's request. [DE 60 (citing [DE 60-2] ) ]. On October 9, 2014, the first hearing panel issued a decision, finding Student B was responsible for sexual misconduct and *622the corrective action issued was permanent expulsion from UK. [DE 60, at 6].

On October 15, 2014, Plaintiff dropped out of her classes at BCTC and withdrew from UK's campus housing. Id. On October 20, 2014, Student B appealed the first hearing panel's October 9, 2014 decision. Id. On December 4, 2014, the University Appeals Board ("UAB") found that proceeding with the first hearing in Student B's absence constituted reversible error and remanded the matter for a new hearing. [DE 57, at 7; DE 60, at 5 (citing [DE 60-2] ) ].

On December 18, 2014, a second student disciplinary hearing was held, and on December 22, 2014, the second hearing panel found Student B was responsible for sexual misconduct and the corrective action issued was permanent expulsion from UK. [DE 57, at 7-8]. However, based on the alleged advice of UK's Violence Intervention and Prevention Center's ("VIP Center") counselors, Plaintiff did not attend the second hearing. Id. Instead, Plaintiff submitted a written statement to the second hearing panel that she would not attend the hearing because retelling the account of her alleged rape was not beneficial to her healing and recovery. Id. In lieu of Plaintiff's in-person testimony at the second hearing, the second hearing panel heard a recording of Plaintiff's testimony from the first hearing. Id.

On December 28, 2014, Student B appealed the second hearing panel's decision. [DE 57, at 8; DE 60, at 6]. Meanwhile, in January 2015, Plaintiff enrolled in classes at BCTC's [redacted] campus. [DE 57, at 8]. On February 9, 2015, the UAB found that the second hearing panel hearing Plaintiff's recorded statement from the first hearing was a procedural error because the prior UAB decision rendered the record from the first hearing inadmissible. [DE 60-4]. Additionally, the UAB found the second hearing panel erred by admitting the written statements of Plaintiff and her roommate without Student B having had the opportunity to ask questions of Plaintiff and her roommate. Id. Accordingly, the UAB reversed the second hearing panel's December 22, 2014 decision and remanded the matter for a new hearing. Id.

On March 26, 2015, a third hearing was held, and Plaintiff participated by telephone. [DE 57, at 9]. On April 2, 2015 the third hearing panel found Student B was responsible for sexual misconduct, and the corrective action issued was suspension for five years, with any return to UK contingent upon Student B receiving counseling with a licensed therapist regarding anger management and healthy relationship development. Id.

On April 13, 2015, Student B appealed the third hearing panel's decision. Id. at 10. On June 9, 2015, the UAB found the third hearing panel erred by permitting witnesses to testify in each other's presence, prohibiting Student B's advisor from providing whispered guidance during the third hearing, and denying Student B a supplemental proceeding in which to establish sanctions. Id. ; [DE 60, at 7 (citing [DE 60-5] ) ].

In July 2015, Plaintiff and Director of the Office of Student Conduct Denise Simpson discussed a potential fourth hearing. [DE 57, at 10-11; DE 60, at 8]. On August 10, 2015, Plaintiff's recently retained counsel contacted Ms. Simpson via e-mail to provide notice of Plaintiff's counsel's representation, object to the fourth hearing, and assert Plaintiff, if necessary, would participate in a fourth hearing. [DE 60-6]. Additionally, Plaintiff's counsel stated, "[Plaintiff] is in the process of enrolling for school in the fall. She does not yet have her class schedule and needs it to verify her August and September availability.

*623Once [Plaintiff] knows her schedule going forward, I will provide you with her availability for a fourth hearing." Id. On August 17, 2015, in a subsequent e-mail from Plaintiff's counsel to UK's General Counsel, Plaintiff's counsel stated, "When [Plaintiff] makes a decision, I will let you know as well. Please keep me updated on the [Student B] timeframe moving forward." [DE 60-7].

Throughout the summer of 2015, Plaintiff allegedly received threatening phone calls from someone with a male voice stating, " 'This isn't over yet.' " [DE 57, at 11]. In August 2015, Plaintiff discontinued her education at BCTC and enrolled in a dental assistance certification program with [redacted], an associate degree program that Plaintiff asserts does not provide a path toward a bachelor's degree or any other degree at UK. Id.

On October 1, 2015, Plaintiff filed her First Complaint in this matter, seeking injunctive relief to require UK to comply with Title IX, damages, and other forms of relief. [DE 1]. On January 6, 2016, Defendant moved to dismiss this matter, arguing Plaintiff cannot show Defendant was deliberately indifferent to Plaintiff's complaints of harassment. [DE 5; DE 5-1]. On January 27, 2016, Plaintiff responded to Defendant's Motion to Dismiss, stating, "[Plaintiff] has not made a motion for the Court to enjoin the on-campus proceeding against Student B." [DE 9-1, at 14].

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
357 F. Supp. 3d 620, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/jane-doe-v-univ-of-ky-kyed-2019.