Two men who went to the University of California are suing their school after they were suspended and punished for sexual harassment despite having no direct evidence of misconduct.
John Doe, a graduate student at UC Los Angeles, was accused of stalking and sexual harassment. He says in his lawsuit that he cooperated with UCLA, “meeting with the Title IX investigator several times and providing documents to support his defense that the allegations against him were entirely false.”
John claims in his lawsuit that he asked for the school’s evidence against him. However, he was denied and the investigation “disclosed no direct evidence” of the misconduct against him.
But John was still found responsible for stalking and sexual harassment so he was suspended for two years. After appealing, his sentence was reduced to one year and the school now determined that he wasn’t responsible for stalking.
John appealed again but he was still found responsible for sexual misconduct but his suspension was reduced to three months.
“The finding was made in the absence of evidence supporting the elements of sexual harassment in the Policy and the application of a minimum one-year suspension for ‘other sexual contact’ in the absence of any contact whatsoever was improper,” he wrote in his lawsuit.
John alleges that UCLA used one investigator model which has been found by many judges to be unlawful. Multiple judges have also ruled that when the accusation rests on the credibility of the accuser and accused, the accused should be allowed to cross-examine the witness as well as evidence against him.
Another filer, referred to as John Doe 2 in court documents, said he also cooperated with investigators of the school and gave evidence that proved his innocence. However, he was still found responsible for stalking.
Doe2 said in the lawsuit that the school refused to reveal 113 exhibits of evidence and 40 witnesses. In his case, he said the school ‘disclosed no direct evidence’ of sexual violence, computer hacking, and stalking.
He was also suspended for two years but appealed. His sentence was reduced to one-year suspension and the school’s appellate body removed the sexual violence and stalking violations from his record.
Attorney Hark Mathaway filed the lawsuit that “seeks to clear the records of those who’ve been wrongfully punished by this deeply flawed disciplinary system.”
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