Judge says Sulkowicz mattress protest didn’t amount to harassment
‘We will continue in our pursuit of justice,’ Nungesser’s attorney says
Columbia did not violate Title IX when the University allowed Emma Sulkowicz ’15 to carry her mattress around campus as part of her senior thesis, District Judge Gregory Woods has ruled.
Sulkowicz’s thesis was a response to the University’s decision not to discipline Paul Nungesser ’15, who she accused of raping her in 2012. No charges were ever brought against Nungesser, prompting him to accuse the university of discrimination against him for allowing Sulkowicz’s controversial project.
According to Nungesser, the attention ruined his academic career and made him fear his for his safety. He sued the university, its president Lee Bollinger, and visual arts professor Kessler who supervised the project.
Judge Woods dismissed the lawsuit, saying that Columbia never violated Title IX, which forbids gender discrimination.
To win, Nugesser needed to prove that the aftermath of the allegation amounted to sex-based discrimination. Under Title IX, the harassment has to be “so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it can be said to deprive [him] of access to the educational opportunities or benefits provided by the school.”
Woods said Nugesser’s case failed because it was based on a “logical fallacy” – that because the allegations against him related to a sexual act, “that everything that follows from it is ‘sex-based’ within the meaning of Title IX.”
“The Court does not suggest that Nungesser’s senior year at Columbia was pleasant or easy,” Woods wrote in Friday’s memorandum opinion and order. “Title IX, however, sets a high bar before a private plaintiff may recover and Nungesser has not alleged facts showing that he was effectively deprived of Columbia’s educational opportunities.”
In 2015, the Daily Beast obtained Facebook messages between Sulkowicz and Nungesser, which showed her writing to him two days after the alleged incident: “Also I feel like we need to have some real time where we can talk about life and thingz. because we still haven’t really had a paul-emma chill sesh since summmmerrrr.”
According to Nungesser’s attorney, they will continue to pursue justice.
He said: “While we’re disappointed with the judge’s ruling today, we believe that this is a very strong case and we will continue in our pursuit of justice for Mr. Nungesser.”