A former Rice University football player has been awarded $1.3 million after a jury found the Houston school discriminated against him after another student accused him of purposely spreading a sexually transmitted disease.
The jury also found the university had violated Title IX when it reached "an erroneous outcome in Plaintiff's disciplinary proceeding," "selectively enforcing its policies and procedures in its handling of the allegations against plaintiff;" and "making archaic assumptions about the roles of men and women in its handling of Jane Roe's allegations against plaintiff."
The lawsuit was originally filed in September 2019, but was later moved to the another court. The lawsuit accused the school of failing to properly conduct a Title IX investigation after a female student — referred to only as Jane Roe — accused the football player of knowingly giving her herpes in 2017.
The crux of the plaintiff's argument was that the university had discriminated against the male student by assuming his guilt based on his gender.
"Rice University treated John Doe in a manner inconsistent with Rice University's own policies and procedures, stripping John Doe of his rights to a fair and just investigation and adjudication process and assuming nefarious intentions and negative behavior on the part of John Doe based upon his gender," the lawsuit claimed, according to Houston Public Media.
Following an investigation, which showed that the female had contracted an STD from the football player, the football player was suspended from the school.
However, the football player also allegedly told the female student that he had an STD before they began their relationship, according to the lawsuit, which claimed she later admitted to lying to the university when reporting that the football player had maliciously given her herpes.
HPM reported that as a result of his suspension, the male student was prohibited from attending classes or participating in football and was prohibited from entering any Rice University property. In June 2018, he was "forced to leave the university" and was removed from the school's football team, according to the lawsuit.
