Lawsuits filed against the University of Oregon by three former UO basketball players were dismissed for a second time earlier this month, court documents show.



U.S. District Judge Michael McShane dismissed the lawsuits filed on behalf of former Ducks players Damyean Dotson, Brandon Austin and Dominic Artis on June 7 "with prejudice," meaning that though the decision could be appealed, their dismissed complaints cannot be refiled again.



"This has been a long and complicated road, but we could not be more satisfied with the outcome," Kevin Reed, a UO vice president and general counsel, said in an email sent by the university Wednesday to The Oregonian/OregonLive. "While we were confident from the beginning that our processes and protocols were followed properly and complied with our legal obligations and our duty of fairness, this brings to a close any legitimate speculation to the contrary. We are glad to have this situation in our rear view mirror and that we can now confirm that the university's professionals conducted themselves in compliance with the law."

"We will review the decision and decide what next legal steps to take," said Alex Spiro, the lawyer for Dotson and Artis, in an email to The Oregonian/OregonLive. "As indicated, they should not have been kicked out of school and they took the principled position to stand up for that wrong. Not all wrongs have easy legal remedies."

The suits were filed against UO, former school president Michael Gottfredson, former vice president of student life Robin Holmes, former assistant dean of students Chicora Martin and student conduct and community standards director Sandy Weintraub.

The players were kicked off UO's basketball team in May 2014 following allegations that they raped a student at an off-campus party two months prior. Artis and Dotson continued playing amid a police investigation, while Austin sat out due to a transfer from Providence, where he was investigated for but never charged with sexual assault.

The Lane County District Attorney's office never charged the players but UO suspended all three from visiting campus for up to 10 years "because they failed to obtain explicit consent before engaging in sexual penetration," according to McShane's latest opinion filed this month.



The alleged victim, identified as Jane Doe, was paid $800,000 and free tuition, housing and student fees by UO in August 2015 to drop her lawsuit against the school. Austin filed a suit seeking $7.5 million two months later. In March 2016, Artis and Dotson filed a suit together that sought $10 million.

McShane initially dismissed the players' suits in September, but allowed them to be refiled within 30 days. Among other claims, the players contended UO denied them due process and violated Title IX by discriminating against them due to their gender.



In his June decision, McShane wrote that "the factual allegations in plaintiffs' amended complaints are essentially similar to the factual allegations in their prior complaint the court previously dismissed.



"The facts added to the new complaints seek to develop a theory of gender discrimination on the basis that (1) the University was under public pressure to take action against the accused male students, and (2) accusers who are female students are treated different than accused students who are male. I find that these new factual allegations fail to cure the deficiencies identified in my prior Opinion & Order."



McShane dismissed the suits with prejudice "because I find that further attempts to amend would be futile."



All three players have continued their basketball careers since leaving Oregon. After transferring to Houston, Dotson was selected last week by the New York Knicks with the 44th overall pick in the 2017 NBA draft. Artis later played at UTEP. Austin never played at the Division I level again, but will play for the Philadelphia 76ers during NBA Summer League next month.



-- Andrew Greif