About the lawsuit
The lawsuit seeks injunctive relief requiring UT to address its violations of Title IX law, including: “instituting, with the assistance of outside experts, and enforcing a comprehensive sexual harassment policy, including procedures for effective reporting of sexual harassment incidents, an effective and immediate crisis response, and an expanded victim assistance and protection program, adopting a real zero tolerance policy under which there will be expedited proceedings and punishment proportional to the offense for violation of sexual harassment policies.”
KNOXVILLE – A lawsuit filed by a group of women alleges that the University of Tennessee has violated Title IX regulations and created a “hostile sexual environment” through a policy of indifference toward assaults by student-athletes.
The federal suit filed Tuesday in Nashville states Tennessee’s policies made students more vulnerable to sexual assault and says that the school had a “clearly unreasonable response” after incidents that caused the women making complaints to endure additional harassment. The suit also states the university interfered with the disciplinary process to favor male athletes.
There have been several sexual assault complaints made against Tennessee student-athletes over the last four years, including former football players A.J. Johnson and Michael Williams. They were indicted on aggravated rape charges in February 2015 and have separate trial dates this summer.
The suit was filed by David Randolph Smith, a lawyer representing six unidentified plaintiffs, against theUniversity of Tennessee and the director of the office of student conduct and community standards. No individual were named as defendants in the complaint.