A former University of Idaho athlete sued the school in federal court this week, seeking monetary damages for the university’s mistakes in handling her sexual assault complaint in 2013.
Former Vandal diver Mairin Jameson account of harassment by a football player led this year to an independent investigation and the dismissal of Athletic Director Rob Speer. The Idaho Statesman first reported on Jameson’s experience in March, a little more than a month after she detailed it on a friend’s Tumblr blog.
The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for Idaho, claims university staff members were ill-prepared to handle Jameson’s accusation against football player Jahrie Level, and that two prior complaints regarding Level weren’t given proper attention. Spear was told of mistakes made in the case at a meeting with university legal counsel in May 2013, but didn’t acknowledge the errors or apologize to Jameson until this past February.
The university admitted mistakes in Jameson’s case in March.
The lawsuit alleges violations of Title 9 for both how Jameson’s complaint was handled, and prior complaints; negligence by the university; and intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress. The lawsuit seeks unspecified compensatory damages and attorney fees. Jameson’s attorneys expect UofI to challenge the lawsuit based on a two-year statute of limitations.
However, they say the clock shouldn’t start until she reasonably could have known about the university’s mistakes – and that didn’t happen until this year when the issues were investigated and reported. (Idaho Statesman)
