ANN ARBOR, MI - A federal judge has ordered that the University of Michigan allow a live hearing for a student accused of sexual assault.

The student, identified only as "John Doe" in the filings, has alleged that the university is violating his due process rights during an ongoing investigation into whether he violated the university's sexual misconduct policy.

The decision Friday comes in response to a request for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction in the federal lawsuit filed in June. It points to a likelihood the case against the university may be decided in the student's favor.

The sexual misconduct investigation stems from a complaint a female student raised with UM's Office of Institutional Equity on March 12, 2018 alleging the male student assaulted her in his residence hall room four months prior. The male student claims in the lawsuit that the sex was consensual.

The lawsuit alleges the university has denied the male student any form of hearing or cross examination, but provides those to students facing all other forms of discipline.

University policy, the lawsuit claims, has "created an environment in which decision-makers at the University are explicitly and implicitly biased against males accused of sexual assault."

The July 6 ruling requires the school to allow a live hearing for John Doe, but he may only take part in circumscribed cross-examination, with questions submitted to a resolution officer or student panel.

"Defendants essentially ask the Court to sit back and wait for the investigator to issue findings against Plaintiff before intervening in this action," the judgement reads. "But, at this very moment, the University may be denying Plaintiff due process protections to which he is entitled. The Court cannot, and will not, simply standby as the fruit continues to rot on the tree. This case is ripe for adjudication."

The judgment by U.S. District Court Judge Arthur Tarnow also states that "Without a live proceeding, the risk of an erroneous deprivation of Plaintiff's interest in his reputation, education, and employment is significant."

"Additional procedural safeguards would both assist the truth-seeking process and help to ensure the protection of Plaintiff's constitutional rights," according to the decision.

The university declined to comment on Friday, but John Doe's Bloomfield Hills-based attorney Deborah Gordon said she and her client are pleased with the ruling.

She noted the court had already stepped in to assure the university stop halting the release of her client's transcripts - a hurdle for her client as he looks forward to graduate school, she said.

Court records indicate the university's counsel agreed to advise the university to do so.

Gordon said the university has followed a second set of policy for students accused of sexual assault and it was frustrating and frightening for her client to not know what was being said in the investigation.

"These were life-changing decisions and yet there was no openness at all and so he's very gratified that the courts (made the decision)," she said. "He feels that's obviously more fair, it makes sense and that he's much more likely to get a fair and sensible result then doing it the way they've been doing it."