Another Student Is Suing SMU Over its Handling of an Alleged Sexual Assault

By Stephen Young Fri., Sep. 19 2014 at 3:37 PM

An SMU freshman who accused a well-known fraternity brother of sexually assaulted him is now suing the school, saying it violated Title IX by acting "deliberately indifferent" to his report of sexual assault and to prior sexual harassment by his alleged assailant, John David Mahaffey.

The alleged incident happened in September 2012, when the student told police that Maheffey, a fourth-generation SMU student and prestigious Hunt scholar, coerced him into the oral sex by threatening him to block him from Sigma Phi Epsilon and with the loss of his own Hunt Leadership scholarship. The next day, SMU police recorded a phone conversation between the student and Mahaffey.

"You know I did not want to do that," the student told Mahaffey, according to an arrest warrant affidavit obtained by The Dallas Morning News.

"I know you didn't," Mahaffey is said to have replied. "But we have to say it was consensual or lawyers, parents, and the school will be involved."

The following March, the Dallas County District Attorney dropped the case, saying it no longer had enough evidence to pursue the case. Sigma Phi Epsilon was suspended in the wake of the allegations.

The suit, filed in federal court today, again asserts that the sex was not consensual. It also claims that the university knew of similar incident involving Mahaffey and a female student on a SMU-sponsored Hunt scholars trip to Taos, New Mexico.

The student also accuses SMU of failing to remove identifying information about him from a crime alert sent out after the post-party incidents, and claims Linda Eads, SMU's assistant provost, discouraged him from cooperating with police and insisted that he allow the provost to handle the matter in house. In the aftermath of the incidents, Eads sent an email to the Hunt scholars, including Mahaffey and the alleged victim, outlining her concerns for Mahaffey but not the alleged victim, according to the lawsuit.

The alleged victim subsequently quit the Hunt scholars and SMU as a result of the climate at the university and its failure to protect him, the suit claims. He is seeking damages for physical, emotional, psychological, educational, professional and economic harm caused to him by SMU, as well as past and future medical/psychological care, past and future mental anguish, past and future loss of enjoyment of life, future loss of earnings/capacity, loss of tuition and related expenses, past and future educational costs and damages for deprivation of access to the educational opportunities and benefits provided by SMU.

This is the second pending lawsuit against SMU over allegations that it mishandled a sexual assault allegation. In that case, the victim claims in court records that the school knew about a previous incident involving her alleged attacker and failed to investigate.

SMU declined to comment. The alleged victim's attorney did not return a call seeking comment.

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MikeWestEast

The concept of University police as law enforcement needs to disappear. They are rent a cops no different than someone guarding Exxon HQ. The CEO of Exxon does not get involved, other than providing evidence as the PD requests, if an assault occurs on his campus. The President of a university should take the same stance. The school can still act on a fraternity because a frat has no rights except for what school decides.

ozonelarryb

SMU, continuing its snooty boys club tradition.

how proud they must be.

WaitWhat

I'm pretty sure that if the accused, and the accuser each sued SMU for mishandling the same sexual harassment case, they could both win. I just don't see how a school is supposed to handle theses cases without getting sued by somebody.

wcvemail

First! and first to feel like washing my eyes after reading about this again.

ScottsMerkin topcommenter

@WaitWhat The school shouldnt be handling it, the cops should, and not the SMU police either. Its needs to be city of Dallas, or the sheriffs office and the DA should be involved. Everything about crime at SMU is sad and swept under the rugs

fred.garvin.mp.713

Not a bad idea. Just remember: any substance that hits the eyes at that rate of speed is gonna burn.

dingo

@ScottsMerkin @WaitWhat

'or the sheriffs office and the DA should be involved.'

Too many financial conflicts of interest involved in the SMU adjudication of events so the case should be handed over to a DA accused of having financial conflicts of interest in prosecutorial efforts against a member of the family eponym attached to the scholarship.