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Penn State Says Student Does Not Have Facts To Back Up Claims In Gender Bias Suit

Penn State filed a brief in court on Thursday to dismiss the Board of Trustees and individual defendants from a gender bias suit that accuses the university of favoring women when investigating sexual misconduct allegations, according to PennLive.

The university said that anonymous student — “John Doe” from California — did not provide the facts to back up his claims and that his suit jumps to conclusions.

Penn State says that Doe’s argument is not “a viable basis for relief under Title IX,” categorizing it as “I am a man, and I was disciplined.”

The suit is specifically against Penn State, the Board of Trustees, President Eric Barron, Associate Director of Student Conduct Karen Feldbaum, Title IX Coordinator Paul Apicella, and Title IX Investigator Katharine Matic.

Doe was originally suspended for the fall semester, but he is attending classes after Judge Matthew Brann lifted the suspension amid the lawsuit.

Doe said he was charged in May with nonconsensual penetration. He received a hearing in June with a panel of three university faculty and staff members, after which, he received a letter from Feldbaum stating he was found to have violated Penn State’s Code of Conduct; the letter included an additional sanction against his continued participation in the Penn State-Jefferson medical program. Doe said a further appeal was denied later in June.

Penn State claims that he was not treated any different than females. Doe said that he provided multiple statements to investigators, but the female, “Jane Roe,” did not provide any statement during the nine-month process, resulting in “a massively unfair and biased investigation.”

He contends that the investigation and proceedings were “afflicted by an anti-male bias, resulting in an erroneous outcome.”

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About the Author

Steve Connelly

Unfortunately, former editor Steve Connelly has graduated. Where is he now? He might be doing something related to that PR degree he got in 2019. Maybe he finally opened that sports bar named after one of his photos, the Blurry Zamboni. Or he might just be eating chicken tenders and couch surfing. Anything’s possible. If you really want to know, follow him on Twitter @slc2o.

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