An anonymous male student is suing the University of Colorado for violating his civil rights under Title IX, the federal gender equity law, after he was found guilty of sexual assault by the Boulder campus last year.

The student, identified in court documents only as “John Doe,” says he was wrongfully accused and suspended for three semesters after a night of consensual sex.

The lawsuit comes amid an unrelated U.S. Department of Education investigation into CU-Boulder, which began last summer when a female sexual assault victim complained CU didn’t do enough to protect her.

With lawsuits and investigations spreading across college campuses nationwide, schools are struggling to strike the difficult balance between supporting sexual assault victims and punishing their assailants, and protecting the rights of accused students.

This month, CU joined a growing list of schools around the country facing lawsuits from male students pushing back against university sexual misconduct charges. To do so, they’re invoking Title IX, a law that has historically been used to protect the rights of female students.

The male student’s complaint was filed in U.S. District Court on Nov. 7, but it was sealed. An amended complaint was filed Friday and made public.

“CU-Boulder has created an environment where an accused male student is fundamentally denied due process by being prosecuted through the conduct process under a presumption of guilt,” according to the complaint. “Such a one-sided process deprived John Doe, as a male student, of educational opportunities at CU-Boulder on the basis of his sex.”

His attorneys asked to file the complaint using a pseudonym, a request granted by Judge Michael Hegarty, because they feared retaliation against their client, according to court documents.

One of the student’s attorneys, Denver-based Michael Mirabella, declined to comment and referred all questions to the Nesenoff and Miltenberg law firm in New York City.

That firm is representing students accused of sexual assault at several colleges, including Vassar College, Columbia University and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst.

Members of the firm did not respond to phone messages and emails from the Daily Camera.

CU chief legal officer Patrick O’Rourke said the university was made aware of the lawsuit late last week.

“We received the complaint, and we’ll respond to it after we’ve had a chance to review the case and the allegations,” O’Rourke said.

Pushing back

“John Doe” is among a growing group who say schools presume guilt while investigating alleged sexual misconduct.

His lawyers write in the complaint that CU’s “investigation was slanted in favor of Jane Doe and took her statements at face-value, while mischaracterizing John Doe’s statements.”

As the White House, advocacy groups, students and parents press schools to end sexual assaults on college campuses, some are concerned universities may be overcorrecting to appear tough on sexual misconduct.

In an April 2014 newsletter, Brett Sokolow, executive director of the Association of Title IX administrators, wrote about schools that mistakenly found male students responsible of sexual misconduct when alcohol was involved.

“These are challenging cases, no doubt,” he wrote. “But we have to get them right. … Finding each of the accused in violation of sexual misconduct is sex discrimination. We are making Title IX plaintiffs out of them.”

In the complaint against CU-Boulder, the male student’s attorneys write that investigators from CU’s Office of Student Conduct were employed to prosecute campus sexual assault, not to gather evidence in an unbiased way.

“When questioning John Doe throughout the process, their line of questioning was hostile in nature, more akin to cross-examination in tenor, and desired to (elicit) a confession, rather than an objective attempt to factually reconstruct an event,” according to the complaint.

CU officials have defended campus investigatory processes in the past as neutral and fact-finding in nature.

All colleges and universities use a standard of proof recommended by the U.S. Department of Education that finds an accused person guilty if the evidence shows he or she is “more likely than not” to have committed the policy violation.

Claims

The lawsuit comes in response to a university finding that the male student, identified in the complaint as a junior from Claremont, Calif., sexually assaulted a female student in September 2013.

Although the Boulder Police Department found no evidence of sexual assault, according to the complaint, CU charged the man with four policy violations: non-consensual sexual intercourse, non-consensual sexual contact, violating the discrimination and harassment policy and procedures, and possessing or using alcohol.

The Camera could not verify the police investigation or other details described in the complaint because of the anonymity of both students.

The man’s appeal was denied, and he was handed down a three-semester suspension that his lawyers described as unprecedented and disproportionate.

His lawyers argue that CU administrators did not advise him of support services on campus, were inflexible with meeting dates and times, did not investigate important evidence and did not interview several eyewitnesses.

They also claim that the woman made a false complaint because she was angry when she “realized he’s just another douchy frat dude” and she reported the assault because she wanted to scare him, according to the complaint.

“John Doe” is seeking an undetermined amount of money. His complaint requests that CU reverse its findings against the student, expunge his disciplinary record and destroy any record of the sexual misconduct investigation.

Sarah Kuta: 303-473-1106, kutas@dailycamera.com or twitter.com/sarahkuta