John Doe v. Occidental Coll.

249 Cal. Rptr. 3d 889, 37 Cal. App. 5th 1003
CourtCalifornia Court of Appeal, 5th District
DecidedJuly 2, 2019
DocketB282292
StatusPublished
Cited by15 cases

This text of 249 Cal. Rptr. 3d 889 (John Doe v. Occidental Coll.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering California Court of Appeal, 5th District primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
John Doe v. Occidental Coll., 249 Cal. Rptr. 3d 889, 37 Cal. App. 5th 1003 (Cal. Ct. App. 2019).

Opinion

DHANIDINA, J.

*1006FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

John Doe (Doe) appeals from the judgment of the trial court denying his petition for writ of mandate. ( Code Civ. Proc., § 1094.5.) He sought to set aside his expulsion from Occidental College after an outside adjudicator found he had sexually assaulted and engaged in non-consensual sexual contact with Jane Roe (Roe), another student. Doe contends he was denied a fair hearing and the decision was not supported by substantial evidence. For the reasons given below, we affirm the judgment.

I. Occidental's sexual misconduct policy

Occidental has a comprehensive policy (the policy) that prohibits "all forms of ... misconduct, including ... sexual assault" and "[n]on-[c]onsensual [s]exual [c]ontact." The policy, which applies to all members of the Occidental community, defines these terms and explains the concepts of consent and coercion.

Occidental's policy contains thorough procedures for adjudicating policy violations. Upon receipt of a report of a potential violation of the policy, Occidental may impose reasonable and appropriate interim measures to eliminate the hostile environment and protect the parties. Such measures include a campus-wide "[s]tay-[a]way [l]etter," changing class schedules, and an interim suspension.

With a sexual misconduct report, Occidental's Title IX team conducts an "Initial Title IX Assessment." Occidental gathers all of the relevant facts and determines whether to pursue an informal resolution, or whether there is sufficient information to refer the report to a hearing panel for disciplinary action in a formal resolution format. Occidental notifies the respondent, the alleged perpetrator, when it seeks action that would have an impact on the respondent, such as protective measures that restrict his or her movement.

If the Title IX team concludes that disciplinary action may be appropriate, Occidental initiates an investigation, by either an Occidental employee or an external investigator. The investigation "will typically include interviews with the Complainant, the Respondent and any witnesses," and the gathering of any documents and other evidence. The policy requires the investigation be "thorough, impartial, and fair"

*894and "designed to provide a fair and reliable gathering of facts" under "principles of fundamental fairness and respect for *1007all parties." All individuals in this investigation, including the respondent, are to be treated with "appropriate sensitivity and respect."

The investigator prepares a written report, based on which the Title IX team and hearing coordinator will "make a threshold determination as to whether there is sufficient information upon which an adjudicator could find a violation of this policy." When an adjudicator could find a policy violation, Occidental may institute formal resolution proceedings against the respondent involving a hearing before either a faculty panel or an external adjudicator.

The hearing coordinator sends a written notification letter to the respondent containing a brief summary of the conduct at issue and the specific provision of the policy violations that are alleged to have occurred. The hearing coordinator also schedules separate meetings with the parties to explain the hearing process and to answer questions. The parties may review all investigative documents "at least five (5) business days prior to the hearing." At the hearing itself, the parties may call all non-character witnesses who were interviewed by the investigator, make oral or written inquiries of the investigator, and address outstanding factual issues.

The adjudicator determines responsibility by a preponderance of the evidence and recommends appropriate sanctions to the hearing coordinator. The respondent may appeal the final outcome to an impartial decision-maker.

II. The sexual misconduct allegations against Doe and the interim measures

The administrative record shows that Roe, a freshman, reported to Occidental's Title IX office an incident of sexual misconduct by Doe, a junior, that occurred on September 28 to 29, 2013. Roe asked for a stay-away letter. On October 28, 2013, the dean of students issued Doe a stay-away letter instructing him to refrain from approaching Roe, or from calling, texting, communicating with, or sending her messages.

The following day, Doe went to the dean of students' office who directed him to Nadia Palacios (Palacios), the coordinator of Occidental's Project Sexual Assault Free Environment (Project SAFE), a victim's advocacy center. Doe and Palacios recognized each other because Doe had heckled her during a Project SAFE presentation a month earlier. Palacios told Doe that she was a survivor advocate only and repeatedly directed him back to the dean of students or to the Title IX office. Doe "smirked" at Palacios and complained about the stay-away letter, asserting that Occidental appeared to accept Roe's account of events and to take his version less seriously. Palacios explained that her office was duty-bound to accept a complaint at face value and then to *1008investigate. Nevertheless, Doe continued to talk. Palacios eventually calmed him down. But, as he stood up to leave, Doe saw an educational poster debunking "rape myths" and became visibly angry. He yelled at Palacios loudly and aggressively for 10 minutes that " '[t]hese girls wear whatever they want and they tease us all night and they expect us not to get anything;' " " '[t]he girls owe him something;' " and " '[n]othing ever happened that night. I don't even know this girl.' " Doe was "very emotional and vented." Palacios felt threatened by his conduct, although Doe never explicitly threatened her.

Doe's outburst was overheard by Kristofer Montoya, a student leader and captain of the men's basketball team who was doing homework at Project SAFE that *895day. Montoya related that Doe told Palacios " '[t]here were no bruises, I didn't hit her or anything ... so that's not rape, that's not sexual assault.' " Doe insisted that the accusations against him were ridiculous, unfair, and unbelievable. Doe asked, "[i]f she goes back to the room and entices me all night, how can you expect me to think nothing's going to happen?" Doe declared that "[m]en are the victims because they are not expected to do anything at the end of the night."

After Doe left Project SAFE, Palacios called campus safety officers to report the incident. She called Roe to warn that Doe was upset by the stay-away letter. She also emailed the dean of students to report Doe's conduct.

III. Roe's complaint against Doe

In the days and weeks following the incident, Roe discussed it with her friends. Roe told three friends that Doe penetrated her vagina with his penis and that she kept telling him she did not want to have intercourse; she told him to stop and he kept trying to have sex with her. She told one friend that Doe was aggressive and manipulative.

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Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
249 Cal. Rptr. 3d 889, 37 Cal. App. 5th 1003, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/john-doe-v-occidental-coll-calctapp5d-2019.