ATLANTA — A former Emory Law student is suing the university in federal court– accusing it of sexual discrimination for how she claims she was allegedly treated after she reported another student raped her.
The alleged attacks happened in August of 2018, but the lawsuit was only recently filed after the student alleges her education and mental well-being were repeatedly compromised as the university made provisions for her assailant that weren't given to her as the alleged victim.
The attorney for "Jane Doe", Lisa Anderson, is also the founder of the group Atlanta Women For Equality. Anderson said the initial attack was devastating to her client.
"It was forcible rape, he pushed her down pushed her legs apart...she tried crossing her legs, tried covering her chest with her arms– but he was way stronger than she was," Anderson said.
The lawsuit describes her as feeling too ashamed to report it at first, but she did so weeks later… as she struggled to continue to attend classes with her alleged assailant.
Anderson said the school refused her request to allow either of them to attend classes virtually and discouraged her from filing a complaint.
"First of all they should have encouraged her to file a complaint instead of discouraged her– ultimately she filed a complaint the following March when she realized he was a threat to other women," Anderson said.
The lawsuit outlines all of this as taking an extreme emotional toll on the woman but alleges Emory "defamed her as lacking credibility for suffering from PTSD."
Anderson said while the student had difficulty convincing the school to allow her to take exams in an alternative way, the alleged perpetrator was allowed to take exams off-campus.
"But she had to fight and get the feds involved before she could take hers off-campus," Anderson said.
Anderson said after the alleged assailant learned she had filed a report, he filed a counterclaim with the school, and later when her family contacted police about the assault he went back to his home country.
"He fled the country– he was an international student and went to his home country shortly after she reported it to the police," Anderson said.
Anderson said while he was allowed to finish his degree remotely– her client ultimately had to leave the school and lost her scholarship.
She said their goal now is financial compensation and to get Emory to change.
"This will help Emory in the long run– no school is going to be at its best if there's sexual violence and as a result amazing students have to leave," Anderson said.
Emory declined to comment on the lawsuit.
Anderson said she plans to add at least two other plaintiffs to this lawsuit who had similar experiences with sexual assault and a similar response from Emory.