KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – There’s been a flurry of activity at and around Tennessee since the university was sued over its handling of sexual assault complaints by athletes with news conferences, legal motions, amendments.
Things may quiet down, but the legal process will take time so cloud looming over the school is probably not going to go away anytime soon.
“Given the breadth of the allegations and the number of parties, this is probably an atypical case that will take longer than the normal year to 18 months that these cases typically go,” said Jim Ryan, a partner with New York law firm Cullen and Dykman who deals in Title IX cases.
Six unidentified women filed the federal lawsuit Feb. 9 in Nashville, Tennessee. Two more women have since been added as plaintiffs. The suit alleges 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.
The school has denied the allegations.