MSU: Student who alleged rape can sue basketball players, not us

David Jesse | Detroit Free Press

Show Caption Hide Caption Woman sues MSU, says 3 basketball players raped her Three Michigan State basketball players raped a student in 2015, one week after the Final Four loss to Duke, and the university coerced the woman not to report it to authorities, according to a federal lawsuit.

A female Michigan State University student who alleges she was discouraged from reporting a rape by three basketball players can sue, but not the university, MSU lawyers argue in a court filing this week.

That's because the alleged rape happened off campus and was only reported to members of the counseling staff, who aren't mandatory reporters, the school's lawyers argue.

So a federal lawsuit by the female student should be dismissed and her focus, if she wants to sue, should be on the players, not MSU, the filing says.

"Plaintiff has every right to pursue appropriate criminal and civil remedies against the students who assaulted her," the filing says. "Plaintiff, however, cannot show that MSU is responsible for criminal actions that did not occur on its campus. Nor can she fault MSU’s conduct after the assault where she never told any MSU employees who were in a position to take action, and she never requested any remedies from MSU that were not provided."

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The lawsuit, filed in federal court, claims three Michigan State basketball players raped the student in 2015, one week after the Final Four loss to Duke, and the university's counseling center coerced the woman not to report it to authorities.

The woman never reported the alleged sexual assault to police, said Karen Truszkowski, the woman’s attorney. But according to the lawsuit, the woman did report the incident to a counselor at the Michigan State University Counseling Center, which she claims failed to properly advise her and even implied it would not be in her "best interest to report the incident to law enforcement."

MSU said in its court filing that going to the counseling center and not the police or administrative sexual assault investigators means MSU never officially knew about the rape.

"MSUCC is identified to students as a confidential resource, meaning that students can speak to a counselor privately, without the counselor reporting the information to others, including MSU’s administration or the police," MSU's filing said.

"John Does 1-3 did not live in the same dorm as Plaintiff, but she alleges that she was never offered a no-contact order to keep them out of her dormitory. She does not allege she ever requested one. Plaintiff alleges that she would often see one or more of John Does 1-3 at the dining hall, which caused her panic and flashbacks but she does not allege that she reported her concerns to MSU or that John Does 1-3 ever approached or harassed her again."

All of that means MSU isn't liable and the suit should be dismissed, the lawyers say.

The initial lawsuit filing sparked a misstep by MSU's administration. A day after the suit, interim President John Engler issued a statement attacking the student who filed the suit and included details of her visit to the counseling center in the statement.

After the Free Press ran a story noting that was likely a violation of federal student privacy laws, Engler issued an apology.

Emails previously obtained under the Freedom of Information Act by the Free Press showed Engler and his closest advisers sharing “essential facts” and edits to be included in the university’s official response to the lawsuit, which accuses MSU counseling staff of discouraging the student from reporting she was raped. Among the emails was one where a spokeswoman acknowledged officials had moved quickly “to get materials the President wanted out the door.”

Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterdavidj