Princeton files motion to dismiss sexual assault suit
Document alleges plaintiff was accused of sexual assault before he filed his own sexual assault complaint
Princeton filed its response on April 20 to the lawsuit John Doe v. Princeton University, in which a former graduate student made a number of allegations related to Princeton’s handling of a sexual assault complaint he filed against another student.
“[I]t was Student Y, not Plaintiff, who first came forward with allegations of sexual misconduct,” the document reads. However, the document also notes that a third-party student had made a report to an administrator on behalf of the Doe plaintiff before Student Y’s report.
Student Y was described to be a member of University’s SHARE program in the original complaint.
The document emphasizes that trained investigators found both students “not responsible” for any violations and that an internal appeals panel upheld the investigators’ findings. The appeal was considered and decided in only 12 days, even though the investigation was “complicated and lengthy.”
More formally, Princeton’s filing alleges that the Doe plaintiff’s complaint failed to state facts sufficient to support the legal claims he was making and that his claims are barred under the New Jersey Charitable Immunity Act.
The case is currently pending before Judge Peter Sheridan, the same judge overseeing the mental health litigation currently pending against Princeton, and Magistrate Judge Douglas Arpert, both of the United States District Court for the District of New Jersey.
Read Princeton’s motion to dismiss here.