Jury Sides With Student In Lawsuit
A federal jury has decided for a former student who contended in a lawsuit that Sewanee: The University of The South was negligent in handling a rape accusation against him but the jurors refused to award millions of dollars in damages.
The jury in Chattanooga decided Friday to award $50,000 in compensatory damages but found the former student himself partly responsible for how the rape complaint was handled. That decision reduced the university’s share of the damages to $26,500.
Attorneys for both sides left saying they were pleased.
The suit stemmed from the private, Episcopal-affiliated university dealing with a complaint by a female student who in 2008 said the plaintiff raped her after she had been drinking alcohol and was unable to consent to sex. The plaintiff said she consented.
