A lawsuit was filed earlier today against Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and four of its employees, including the school’s chancellor. The suit, which was filed by a former student, Bailey Reed, claims the “university violated Title IX when it failed to uphold the student’s rights after she was raped on campus by a classmate.”
A lawsuit was filed earlier today against Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and four of its employees, including the school’s chancellor. The suit, which was filed by a former student, Bailey Reed, claims the “university violated Title IX when it failed to uphold the student’s rights after she was raped on campus by a classmate.”
Tomorrow marks the one year anniversary of her alleged rape and she said that since the incident, she’s “met her perpetrator” and even had to endure a class with him. But what happened? How did the university violate Title IX?
According to the suit, Reed was “raped by a classmate in her campus apartment” and went to the hospital shortly after the incident. While there, she underwent a rape kit and “gave a statement to police.” The following day, she was “contacted by defendant Ashley Cox, who said she worked for a non-profit rape crisis center.” However, according to the suit, “Cox did not disclose she was an employee of SIUE and also told Reed she did not have to report the rape.” When commenting on her conversation with Cox, Reed said:
“She asked if I wanted to move forward and if I wanted to press charges, and she explained the Title IX process. I was like, ‘Yeah, I want to do all of that. I’m pressing charges, I’m moving forward, he’s not getting away with this. This isn’t fair.’ And she was like, ‘Okay, I understand, but you do realize the chances of you winning something like that or getting the university to help you with something like that is really hard.’”
In addition to naming Cox and the university as defendants, the suit also names “Chancellor Randall Pembrook, as well as Kara Shustrin and Chad Martinez, who both work in the Title IX office at the university.”
For those who don’t know, Title IX states “a person has a right to an education free from gender discrimination.” Reed’s attorney, Nicole Gorovsky, said the protections guaranteed under Title IX apply to campus rape incidents such as Reed’s. She added:
“The aftermath of that rape and how a person is supposed to go on at school, especially if their perpetrator is attending the school, effects their access to education.”
Following her rape, Reed stated in her suit that she had “months of interactions with the university where she says she was made to feel unsafe and unsupported,” even after her perpetrator was arrested on campus for violating an order of protection Reed had put in place after her rape.
To make matters worse, back in January a “Madison County judge ruled Reed was a victim of non-consensual sex by the perpetrator.” Even though the school’s Sexual Harassment Panel agreed with the judge’s ruling, the “Title IX office and the chancellor ruled in favor of Reed’s alleged perpetrator, saying he did not commit the sexual assault” and even told Reed that she “didn’t act like a victim.”
Gorovsky pushed back against the Title IX office and how the university has so far handled Reed’s case. She said the “Title IX office did not utilize SIUE campus police instead of conducting its own investigation,” and added:
“They failed to fully investigate the situation, and they really tried to discourage my client from even coming forward.”
In response to the recent lawsuit, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville issued the following statement:
“While the University does not generally comment on pending litigation, we disagree with many of the allegations made in Ms. Reed’s lawsuit regarding her treatment by SIUE, and the University’s Title IX investigation process. SIUE takes all complaints of sexual assault and other forms of sexual harassment very seriously and seeks to provide a harassment and discrimination-free environment to all SIUE students, employees and visitors. SIUE will vigorously defend against the allegations made by Ms. Reed in her complaint.”
Sources:
Former student files lawsuit against SIUE for its handling of her rape on campus
Former SIUE student sues college over its investigation of a sexual assault
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