A former AU student has filed a lawsuit against the school for failure to comply with Title IX regulations following the student’s claims of battery and sexual abuse.
President John Pistole said of the case: “We take all allegations very seriously. We are going to let due process take over from here.”
Head football coach Steve Rock, who was hired prior to the 2018 season, declined to comment on the situation due to lack of knowledge regarding the circumstances.
The student, who will remain nameless in this article, was recruited to play baseball at the university in 2016. In his claims to the court, he stated that three members of AU’s football team attacked him on two occasions, according to an article published in the Herald Bulletin.
The Herald Bulletin article reported that the lawsuit was filed against the university on Oct. 12 in Madison County Circuit Court 1. The school is being sued on the grounds of failing to perform a full Title IX investigation based on the claims reported to university police by the student. University officials filed for the case to be moved to the U.S. District Court of Southern Indiana.
The lawsuit was made based on claims by a former student stating that several of the university’s football players physically assaulted him, threatened his life and attempted to sexually abuse him.
The case alleges that the school failed to comply with proper Title IX regulations in response to a report of sexual misconduct.
The security log from the Nov. 16, 2016 issue of the Andersonian states that on Nov. 11, “University police took a report of battery occuring in Dunn Hall. Student life was aware of the situation before the call.”
The security log from the Dec. 7, 2016 issue states that on Nov. 14, “University police took a report of battery and criminal confinement that occurred between students in Dunn Hall.”
These dates are in line with what was reported by the Herald Bulletin.
The Sex/Gender Misconduct Policy and Title IX handbook published by AU states the following about sexual misconduct: “Sexual misconduct in any form will not be tolerated and will be dealt with promptly. When an allegation of misconduct is reported, protective and other remedial measures will be used to reasonably ensure that such conduct ends, is not repeated and the effects on the victim and community are remedied, including serious sanctions when a responding party is found to have violated this policy.”
AU defines sexual misconduct as “a broad spectrum of violent behavior including but not limited to: sexual violence, sexual harassment, domestic violence, dating violence and stalking or any other nonconsensual sexually-related conduct.”
The student stopped attending AU following the fall semester of 2016. He is suing the school for emotional, financial and other damages, among other things.