UConn to Pay $1.3 Million to End Suit on Rape
Cases
The University of
Connecticut will pay $1.28 million to settle a lawsuit filed by five students
who charged that the university had treated their claims of sexual assault and
harassment with indifference, the two sides announced on Friday in a joint
statement.
One of the complainants,
Silvana Moccia, a former hockey player at the university, will receive
$900,000. Ms. Moccia charged that she was cut from the hockey team after
reporting her rape to her coach. She joined the lawsuit in December, a month
after it was filed by the other four women, who will receive payments ranging
from $25,000 to $125,000.
The university continues to
deny any wrongdoing and defends its policies of responding to instances of
sexual misconduct, but it decided to settle the lawsuit because “no good would
have come from dragging this out for years as it consumed the time, attention
and resources — both financial and emotional — of everyone involved,” Lawrence
D. McHugh, the chairman of the university’s board of trustees, said in a
statement.
In a news conference on
Friday, Gloria Allred, the plaintiffs’ counsel, said the settlement was in the
best interest of her clients and of the university. “We hope that other victims
of sexual assault will hear about the positive results in our case involving
UConn and be inspired and encouraged to report instances of sexual violence and
assault,” Ms. Allred said, adding, “Title IX is there for their protection, and
other universities should follow the law and UConn’s example.”
The lawsuit sought damages
for discrimination based on gender and retaliation in violation of Title IX,
which guarantees equal education opportunities to students regardless of
gender. The plaintiffs sued the university for unspecified monetary damages and
changes in the university’s treatment of allegations of sexual violence and
harassment.
In addition to the lawsuit,
four of the plaintiffs and three other women filed a complaint with the Office of Civil Rights at the United
States Department of Education. That investigation will continue, although the
four plaintiffs have withdrawn their complaint to the government.
The women maintain that
they do not hold the university responsible for any of the sexual misconduct,
but that they found fault with the way their cases had been dealt with by
members of the university’s staff.
One of the complainants,
Kylie Angell, said in the complaint that she was told by a female campus police
officer, “Women have to just stop spreading their legs like peanut butter,” or
rape will “keep on happening till the cows come home.”
The women said they had
been discouraged from reporting sexual attacks to the police or had not been
adequately informed of their legal options.
None of the men accused in
the complaint faced criminal charges. One accused rapist was expelled, but his
expulsion was appealed and he was permitted back on campus.
The university said it had
expelled 27 students since 2005 for sexual misconduct, including 15 in the last
five years.
The settlement includes
changes to university policy for dealing with allegations of sexual assault,
including a revised training program for management-level employees in dealing
with sexual harassment and sexual violence; the creation of a position of
assistant dean of students for victim support services; and the formation of a
special victims unit within the university’s police department with officers
trained in responding to sexual violence.
“The lawsuit may have been
settled, but the issue of sexual assault on college campuses has not been,”
Susan Herbst, the president of the university, said in a statement. “Our hearts
go out to all victims of sexual violence. The university has taken positive,
important steps in the battle against sexual assault in recent years, which are
described in the joint statement, but there is still more to be done.”
One of the complainants,
Rosemary Richi, will be returning to campus this fall for her senior year. In a
statement delivered at the news conference, she said she was optimistic that
the steps taken in the settlement would make a difference for other victims of
sexual assault.
“I will never forget where
we came from and how we got here, but I am so proud of how far we’ve come,” she
said.
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