Federal lawsuit by expelled student against Amherst College allowed to proceed
A federal judge has allowed a lawsuit filed by an expelled student against Amherst College to continue despite the school's request that it be dismissed.
Represented by Max D. Stern, Megan C. Deluhery and Hillary A. Lehman of the firm, the student alleges that the college breached his contractual rights under the student handbook and violated Title IX based on its biased disciplinary process related to a female student's allegations against him of sexual misconduct.
The expelled student alleges the college conducted a flawed investigation of the sexual encounter that favored the female student, and unlawfully used gender as a motivating factor behind its decision to expel him.
The complaint asserts that Amherst's investigation was "grossly inadequate," overlooking signs that would have cleared his client of sexual misconduct allegations.
The firm argued on behalf of the male expelled student that were the genders of the students reversed, the female complainant would have been readily found responsible for sexually assaulting him, as he was credibly found to have "blacked out" during the encounter with the other student.
Litigation in the case will continue.