Yale Grad Claims Male Discrimination: Lawsuit

NEW HAVEN, CT — A Yale University graduate has sued the school and claims that he was discriminated against because he is male. The plaintiff, named as John Doe in the lawsuit, claims that the school discriminated against him after two sexual assault allegations and a paper he wrote where he referenced rape, according to the lawsuit.

“As a result John was the subject of two informal and two formal complaint procedures. He racked up three no-contact orders and one probation, had been accused of being a rapist twice and a potential murderer,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit was filed in U.S. District Court District of Connecticut in February against Yale, Chair of the University Wide Committee David Post and Yale's Senior Title IX Coordinator Jason Killheffer. Doe is seeking to have Yale expunge its finding and sanctions from his educational record. He is also seeking an unspecified amount of compensatory damages.

Yale University Press Secretary Thomas Conroy told the New Haven Register that the suit is legally baseless and factually inaccurate. The school plans to defend itself.

John Doe also claimed that a female staff member suggested he be castrated and that he was blocked from extracurricular activities and from freely attending graduation ceremonies. He also claims that he was discriminated against because he is male and that his future prospects for graduate school and employment are marred.

An issue came about when a teaching assistant in John Doe’s philosophy class reported him to the school for an academic paper where he referenced and denounced the crime of rape to illustrate a point related to Plato’s Republic, according to the lawsuit. He was required to take sensitivity training.

A classmate of John Doe named as Jane Doe in the lawsuit filed a campus complaint against him in April 2014 alleging that he raped her. Jane later recanted her allegations, but John was put on permanent school probation anyway, the lawsuit states.

Yale and other schools that receive federal funding have a duty to investigate and punish students who commit sexual assault. The Department of Education Office of Civil Rights issued a letter in 2011 that essentially deputizes schools to get to the bottom of the allegations and issue discipline, according to the lawsuit.

“This case also arises out of Yale’s discrimination against John in violation of Title IX for erroneously, arbitrarily and capriciously punishing John for having sex with a female student who willingly and without force unambiguously 'got into his bed' to engage in sex with him,” wrote John Doe’s attorney, Susan Kaplan, in the lawsuit.

Another student named as Sally Roe in the lawsuit alleged John forcibly touched and restrained her. She didn’t appear at a complaint hearing and didn’t file a formal complaint.

“Indeed, Yale willfully, knowingly and maliciously prosecuted its own claim against John because Yale saw a pattern between Sally’s allegation and Jane’s allegation, though Jane recanted her allegation, thus nullifying any pattern between the two in violation of Title IX,” the lawsuit states.

The lawsuit also alleges that Yale University’s internal process for dealing with sexual misconduct claims doesn’t afford the accused rights to things such as cross-examining witnesses that are normally available during a criminal trial.

The lawsuit goes on to argue that the repercussions of being found at fault could be devastating to a person’s future education and job prospects.

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