Lawsuit Alleges Cornell Enabled Former Student’s Persistent Sexual Assault, Misconduct

A current lawsuit filed in 2023 alleges that Cornell University allowed a student to sexually abuse two women and potentially others.

The lawsuit, filed by two alleged victims against Cornell and the alleged attacker, claims the university failed to protect accusers and others from persistent sexual assault, sexual abuse and other misconduct.

“Throughout his enrollment at the school and on campus, the (defendant) sexually abused, sexually assaulted, and committed egregious sexual misconduct against students, particularly against Plaintiffs,” according to a lawsuit filed in Tompkins County Supreme Court on November 10, 2023.

The lawsuit was first reported by the New York Focus.

A judge in the case previously denied motions to dismiss the lawsuit. Pre-trial proceedings are underway.

“Cornell disputes any assertion that it failed to investigate reported instances of sexual misconduct and absolutely rejects any assertion that it failed to act in response to multiple reports of such misconduct. The university has no further comment on this pending litigation,” according to a statement from a school spokesperson.

The student’s attorney, Keith White, said his client’s responses to the allegations “are affirmed in the responses filed in the lawsuit” and declined to comment further. The official response contains denials but no additional information.

The plaintiffs in this case did not respond to requests for comment.

One of the accusers said in an affidavit that she was sexually assaulted and abused by the alleged student in September and October 2018 and that she filed a Title IX civil rights complaint against him at that time.

The student, whose name NBC News is not revealing because he has not been criminally charged in the case, has denied all allegations in court documents.

The Title IX office received “numerous” other complaints against the same person, according to an April 19, 2024, affidavit from one of the women.

The other accuser said the student “sexually, physically, and verbally assaulted me in his on-campus dorm room” on May 7, 2021. That alleged victim filed a Title IX complaint in August of that year, but “no action was taken” and the alleged attacker continued to attend Cornell, the plaintiff wrote in a separate April 2024 brief.

However, according to a person familiar with the matter, he was suspended by the university and then transferred to another school. It is unclear what exactly led to his suspension.

Title IX is a federal law that prohibits discrimination based on sex. It is commonly used by colleges and universities to adjudicate sexual assault allegations outside of the criminal justice system. An accused person may face both a civil proceeding under Title IX and a criminal proceeding in local courts.

The ongoing case comes to light as the Ivy League institution grapples with a high-profile scandal surrounding another civil case filed in September by a woman identified in court documents as Jane Doe. Jane Doe alleged she was gang raped and forced to do drugs at the Chi Phi fraternity house in 2024.

An internal investigation into the matter resulted in two expulsions and other repercussions, but no criminal charges were filed. New York State Attorney General Letitia James was tapped by the governor on October 1 to lead a new criminal investigation. Last week, James announced that a former federal prosecutor had been recruited by his office to lead the investigation.

The 2023 affair came to light days after the Faculty Senate issued a vote of no confidence in Cornell administrators’ ability to handle what sponsors called an “ongoing sexual assault crisis.”

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-4673. The hotline, run by the Rape, Abuse, and Incest National Network (RAINN), can connect you with your local rape crisis center. You can also access RAINN’s online chat service at rainn.org/get-help.