Updated at 10 p.m. Tuesday throughout to reflect additional court documents.

During a class he needed to graduate from the University of Texas at Arlington, senior Thomas Klocke had a confrontation with a classmate.

He said the student was flirting with him. But the other student said Klocke insulted him with a gay slur and told him to consider suicide.

The incident led to an investigation of Klocke before he killed himself at Grapevine's Silver Lake Marina Park in June 2016.

A view of Silver Lake Marina in Grapevine. Thomas Klocke, a 24-year-old UT-Arlington student, committed suicide at the park in June 2016. (Ron Baselice / Staff Photographer)

His family says he took his life because he was distraught that he'd been wrongfully punished for harassment and banned from class without a fair review.

UTA's mishandling of the case destroyed the Southlake 24-year-old's academic future and reputation, according to a lawsuit his father, Wayne, filed in April against the university and the student who accused him.

"This case serves to highlight just how potentially devastating the consequences are when a student is denied fair process," said family attorney Kenneth Chaiken, alleging the school violated Title IX procedures.

UTA says it followed university policies. In court filings, the university argues that it was a case of harassment, and not sexual harassment, so it does not fall under Title IX requirements.

"We express our deepest condolences to the family for their loss," the university said in a written statement. "The welfare of our students is our highest priority. Any loss is a heartbreaking one for our entire community."

The university and the other student have filed motions to dismiss the lawsuit.

Flash point

Students enter the UT-Arlington campus. UTA officials say they followed policies, but the university has provided few details because of the pending lawsuit. (Ron Baselice / Staff Photographer)

The dispute between Klocke and Thomas Watson began in a management class May 19, 2016, according to court documents.

Watson alleges Klocke typed “Gays should die” on his laptop while Watson was watching, which scared him.

He said that when he typed on his own laptop, "I'm gay," Klocke feigned a yawn and called him a slur for a gay man. Watson said he told Klocke he should leave. He said Klocke responded by saying: "You should consider killing yourself.”

The Klocke family says their late son denied Watson's allegations, and they're suing him for defamation. Watson's attorney declined to comment.

After Klocke was contacted by a UTA administrator, according to court documents, he said that on that day in class, Watson made him uncomfortable by flirting with him and telling him he was beautiful. When Klocke typed "stop — I'm straight," Watson typed, "I'm gay" and continued looking at Klocke, who asked him to stop.

Klocke said he eventually moved across the room because Watson was distracting him by texting and laughing.

Watson posted his version of the encounter on Facebook and told the professor what happened. He filed a written complaint to Heather Snow, associate vice president of student affairs and dean of students, who is also the Title IX deputy coordinator for students.

The lawsuit describes Snow as Watson's friend. In court records, both Watson and Snow describe themselves as acquaintances.

Klocke's father accuses Snow of helping Watson draft a complaint against Klocke and failing to report the investigation to the school's main Title IX coordinator, who is supposed to be involved in all investigations, according to UTA policies. In a deposition, Snow said she did not help but told Watson he needed to put his complaint in writing.

UTA officials say they can't discuss specifics, but under university policies, students removed from the classroom are always offered alternatives — such as completing the course outside of class online or with a faculty supervisor. (Ron Baselice / Staff Photographer)

Dan Moore, UTA's associate director for academic integrity, interviewed Klocke, Watson and a student who sat nearby during the confrontation. The student told Moore he heard Watson tell Klocke that he should leave, according to court documents.

Moore notified Klocke in a letter that he had been found to have violated the university's policy against harassment and was being placed on probation for the rest of his time at the school.

Chaiken said the university didn't offer any accommodation for his client's son after banning him from class, and still made him complete two exams.

But Moore told Klocke he was allowed to continue work on group projects. In separate emails, Moore told Klocke he could meet with the professor one-on-one and take the final exam, according to court documents.

Moore said in court filings that if he'd proposed suspension or expulsion from the university, or other sanctions, Klocke would have a right to a formal hearing. But because those weren't in place, Klocke had a right to appeal the decision. He killed himself before the deadline.

Moore could not be reached for comment.

Chaiken says Klocke also was prevented from contacting witnesses who could support his version of events.

According to the lawsuit, Watson was allowed back in class and Moore used his "bare account of the reported incident 'as the evidence' against Klocke."

The lawsuit accuses the university of circumventing Title IX procedures, which under university policy would have required that the Title IX coordinator be notified.

But in its motion to dismiss the lawsuit, the university states that Moore did not see the allegations as falling under Title IX, but instead as a violation of university policy against harassment. Moore said in court filings that if Klocke had been in violation of Title IX, he would have been told. But even it did fall under Title IX, Moore said he wouldn't have handled the situation differently.

Title IX is a federal law that directs universities to protect students from sexual violence and harassment. The law has most recently been in the news prominently because of the sexual assault scandal at Baylor University. One of several pending lawsuits, filed in January, alleges that 31 football players committed at least 52 acts of rape and that the university failed to properly investigate as required by Title IX.

Chaiken said universities across the country are condemning men who have been accused of harassment or sexual assault, even if they're innocent.

Nancy Hogshead-Makar, an Olympic gold medalist swimmer who is now a civil rights lawyer, is considered an expert in the Title IX field. She is founder and CEO of Champion Women, which provides legal advocacy for women and girls in sports.

She said there's no way to build a system that's perfect, but evidence doesn't show there's a trend of universities simply assuming accused men are guilty.

Under the federal law, Hogshead-Makar said, schools have an obligation to do something when an issue is brought to their attention.

"The next question is what would you expect them to do? They have to stop the harassment," Hogshead-Makar said.

It's typical for schools to separate the parties during disputes like the one at UTA.

"It's always a problem when they're in the same class together," she said. "But the school has to accommodate that."

Often, a class will be videotaped for students who have been removed.

Hogshead-Makar said universities should strive to remain neutral and apply the same rules for both parties in a dispute.

In a lawsuit, a former UTA student's family says he took his life because he was distraught that the university had wrongfully punished him for harassment and banned him from class without a fair review. (Ron Baselice / Staff Photographer)

Before Klocke died, he set his sights on getting an MBA or possibly attending law school, as his father had.

"Thomas was a hard-working student, he was a fine young man, he was seemingly happy, had no obvious problems, other than when this all arose," Chaiken said.

Experts typically agree suicide is never the result of one event. But Chaiken said the ordeal caused Klocke emotional anguish, which had devastating consequences.

Soon after Klocke had been banned from class but was required to take the exams, he found out he was going to be on disciplinary probation.

"About the same time that he understood what that meant for his future, in terms of applying to graduate school or even jobs, he got a grade back," Chaiken said. "And the grade that he got back was a grade that he didn't find to be acceptable. And at that point, he was so distraught, he went and took his own life."