UT settles sexual assault lawsuit for $2.48 million

Eight women suing the University of Tennessee for sexual assaults committed by members of the football program that created a “hostile sexual environment” have reached a settlement with the school for nearly $2.5 million. The victims stated that the school created a “hostile sexual environment” that protected, and absconded student-athletes of their blame.

In a settlement for a lawsuit over how the University of Tennessee handles sexual misconduct, the school agreed to increase training for all employees on addressing sexual violence, change who is appointed to student disciplinary boards and hire consultants to improve school policies.

According to the report, the plaintiffs agreed to withdraw their two complaints that were filed to the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights back in 2015. “Now, the University can continue its aggressive efforts to deal with Title IX issues, and the plaintiffs can go about their lives without the public agony of protracted litigation and trial”, said UT attorneys Aubrey Harwell and Bill Ramsey. Cases at Baylor University, Stanford and Vanderbilt have brought scrutiny and pressure on athletics departments, with their highly visible role, powerful emotional attachment from many in the campus community, and in some cases, dramatic financial impact on a university.

David Randolph Smith, the attorney representing the eight plaintiffs, said in a statement that his clients are dismissing the lawsuit with prejudice. The $2.48 million payout from UT to the eight women will be split between UT’s athletic department and central administration.

The lawsuit also says that the Tennessee Uniform Administrative Procedure Act-which governs hearings into accusations of sexual assault-is one-sided against victims, and “denies victims the rights to a hearing and to the same equal procedural, hearing, and process rights as given to perpetrators of rape and sexual assault”.

In March, phone records for head football coach Butch Jones revealed he placed “courtesy calls” to police in the early hours of November 16, 2014, when Johnson and Williams were accused of raping a female student, who was identified in the lawsuit as “Jane Doe IV”. The suit claims a university investigation concluded that Johnson and Williams had committed sexual assault.

“No university will be able to prevent every incident of students, faculty or staff making bad judgments”, Mr. Cheek said. UT officials said they’ve already spent $220,000 litigating the case and estimated that it would cost another $5.5 million if the case ended in trial.

“We are proud of the work done in recent years by our Title IX, student conduct and student welfare professionals at UTK and across our System to create awareness of, respond to and provide support around issues related to sexual assault and sexual misconduct”, said UT president Joe DiPietro.

Kathy Redmond Brown, founder of the National Coalition Against Violent Athletes, who spoke to the UT football team past year, said Wednesday she thinks the women wanted to see changes for other students. Later, the complaint was amended to include two other women who also said they had experienced similar treatment.