NEWS

Judge denies request to stop UT sexual assault hearing

Nate Rau, and Anita Wadhwani
The Tennessean

A federal judge on Tuesday rejected the request of six former University of Tennessee female students to stop the institution from using its current disciplinary process for students accused of sexual assault — allowing a campus hearing to go forward in Knoxville Wednesday to determine whether a male student accused of sexually assaulting a female student in October 2014 should be disciplined.

U.S. District Judge Kevin Sharp denied the women's request for a temporary restraining order, ruling they failed to show imminent irreparable harm if UT went to forward with such disciplinary hearings while the case challenging the campus process as "unlawful" goes forward.

The plaintiffs, named only as Jane Does, filed a sweeping lawsuit against UT last week alleging the university has enabled a campus culture that leads to sexual assaults and then utilized a biased hearing process that favors student-athletes accused of sexual misconduct over victims.

Five of the Jane Does claim they were victims of sexual assaults by UT students. A sixth Jane Doe was the college roommate of one of the alleged victims. The roommate claims she was harassed by football players on social media and witnessed the physical assault of a football player by his teammates after he came to the aid of her roommate immediately after the reported sexual assault by two UT football players.

COMPLETE COVERAGE: University of Tennessee sex assault lawsuit

UT also filed a motion on Tuesday asking for the federal case to be moved to the federal court in Knoxville. Lawyers for the university say that because UT primarily does business in Knoxville, the site of its flagship campus and all of the alleged sexual assault allegations, it is the more appropriate venue.

The plaintiffs have specifically requested the case be heard in Nashville, noting in their initial complaint that they "cannot receive a fair and an impartial trial by jury in accordance with the Seventh Amendment to the U.S. Constitution in any other judicial district in which venue would be proper." Nashville is the home to several UT campuses including the College of Social Work and where the Board of Trustees regularly holds its meetings

After filing their initial lawsuit last Tuesday, the plaintiffs took the unusual legal step three days later of requesting a temporary restraining order that would have barred UT from using its current administrative hearing process for students accused of sexual assault until their litigation is settled.

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One of the Jane Does is scheduled to have an administrative hearing on Wednesday in Knoxville. She alleges she attended a football player's party where she was served drinks prior to being assaulted by an unnamed UT student and two students from Tennessee State University.

Sweeping sex assault suit filed against University of Tennessee

In a motion opposing the temporary restraining order, attorneys for UT argued that the Jane Doe in that case is not subject to irreparable harm because the woman, who has since left UT and lives 100 miles away, doesn't have to attend Wednesday's hearing. UT argued that its case is sufficient to pursue punishment against her alleged assailant without her testimony.

The administrative hearing is now set to move forward because of Sharp's ruling. The hearing is used to decide what punishment, if any, the accused student will face. The lawsuit has been assigned to Judge Aleta Trauger, who is out of town. Sharp instead ruled on the temporary restraining order in her place.

One of the plaintiffs' key arguments in their lawsuit is that UT's hearing process is unique — the only of its kind in the country — and favors the accused, who has due process rights not provided to accusers, including the right to cross examine. The university has not yet filed a response to that larger issue.

Campus discipline at heart of University of Tennessee lawsuit

Reach Nate Rau at 615-259-8094 and on Twitter @tnnaterau. Reach Anita Wadhwani at 615-259-8092 and on Twitter @anitawadhwani.