University of Nebraska Accused of Protecting Athlete

Track star, Melissa Farrington, says that she was forced to leave school after she reported abuse from her athlete boyfriend. She claims that she was harassed and discriminated by the school's athletic department, so she is suing the University of Nebraska- Lincoln for violating the Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972. Farrington said that the athletic department retaliated against her by canceling her scholarship after she reported domestic abuse by her boyfriend. Title IX prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex, including domestic violence, in all schools that receive federal money. UNL could lose federal funding if it is found that they violated the law.

Farrington's lawsuit states that an athletic department employee informed the university in March 2015 that she was assaulted by a male student athlete she was dating, then university officials interviewed her, and confirmed the assault. She did not feel protected by the employees of the athletic department, but rather ostracized by them, other varsity athletes, and even her own athletic coaches. She says that the university breached its duty to protect victims of sexual violence. They created a hostile environment and refused to renew her scholarship even with her outstanding athletic performance. Her scholarship at UNL was eventually reinstated, but Farrington had to seek out other schools to participate in her sport.  She did transfer to Florida State University, but lost a year's athletic scholarship.

She filed a lawsuit suing UNL for $40,000 in economic damages because of losing a year of scholarship funding. The lawsuit also claims that UNL caused Farrington inconvenience, humiliation, and mental distress.

Comments from Allen:I confess to having a bit of a conflict of interest in commenting on this story, as I am a huge Nebraska Cornhusker fan.  That said, some things about this story caught my interest.

First is that the plaintiff in this story complains that UNL identified her as being a victim, yet allowed her to have a say on whether it took action against the abusive boyfriend.  The University is not a prosecutor, despite what some may think.  The Lancaster County Prosecuting Attorney's office would have the last word on whether a prosecution takes place in Lincoln.  However, it is common in criminal prosecutions that the victim's views are taken into account when a decision is being made concerning whether criminal charges are brought, and whether incarceration is sought.  This is the rule rather than the exception in my experience.

Melissa complains the university created a hostile environment for her and claims UNL track officials told others on the team not to speak with her, which ostracized her from the team.  She also claims the coaches pulled her scholarship, but later reinstated it.

The university claims it followed all Title IX procedures as required, without giving details.

The facts will eventually come out.  It would not surprise me that a coach would withdraw a scholarship from a team member whose presence had become a distraction for the entire team, but reinstated the scholarship when informed by the Title IX compliance officer at UNL that she should not have her scholarship revoked for that reason.  As she alleges, Melissa was a very good track athlete, and I am sure the team will miss her.

Yanking the scholarship is probably the most important piece of evidence Melissa has that UNL violated Title IX.

Asking $40,000 for missing a year of college on scholarship is also not out of line if she does not get that year back.

I am not going to predict the outcome of this trial, as it is very much fact-driven, and we do not know the facts yet, only the allegations.

***********************************************************************************************************************

Allen Browning is an attorney in Idaho Falls, Idaho who handles personal injury and criminal defense. He has over 30 years of experience and handled thousands of cases. Allen handles cases from all over Idaho. Call (208) 542-2700 to set up a free consultation if you are facing legal trouble or you have been involved in an accident.

Also, check out browninglaw.net for more information about Allen and Browning Law.

Allen Browning can help with all personal injury claims including motor vehicle accidents,truck accidents, auto accidents, serious and disabling accidents, and wrongful death claims.

Allen Browning is an Idaho Falls attorney who can also help with drunk driving (DUI), traffic violations, Felony, Misdemeanor, Domestic Violence, Drug Crimes, Theft, Juvenile Crimes, battery and assault charges, Violent Crimes, and Probation/Parole Violations. He is one of the most experienced and successful criminal defense attorneys in Idaho.
Allen is able to provide his services if the incident occurs in the following Idaho Areas: American Falls, Arco, Blackfoot, Boise, Burley, Driggs, Idaho Falls, Malad City, Pocatello, Rexburg, Rigby, Salmon, St. Anthony, Twin Falls, Bannock County, Bingham County, Bonneville County, Butte County, Cassia County, Clark County, Fremont County, Jefferson County, Lemhi County, Madison County, Oneida County, Power County, Teton County, and Twin Falls County.    
Sources for more information:

http://www.courthousenews.com/2016/04/29/cornhuskers-accused-of-protecting-athlete.htm

http://journalstar.com/news/local/911/after-title-ix-complaint-former-husker-track-athlete-sues-unl/article_1cab1f5c-1782-51de-9e32-095945ea3ba5.html

http://www.universityherald.com/articles/29601/20160502/former-unl-athlete-reports-sexual-assault-sues-university-allegedly-favoring.htm

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

7 Things Lawyers Can't Tell Jurors

Image
 It is a trial lawyer's job to educate jurors, and tell them what they need to know in order to decide cases. Despite this, there are many things, true things, that lawyers are not allowed to tell jurors directly in statements to the jury or indirectly through testimony of their witnesses. Lawyers know these things, though, and I thought you might like to know some of things. #1. A lawyer can't tell the jurors anything that happened during settlement negotiations. He cannot let the jurors know, when asking them to make the defendant pay his client $100,000 that the defendant agreed to pay him $80,000 prior to the trial. The reason for this is that you want settlement negotiations to be very open. You don't want to damage a negotiation session because someone is afraid that what they say will get repeated to a jury if you don't strike a deal. #2 In Idaho, a lawyer can't tell the jurors that the defendant has insurance. In many other states, he can. Bec
Read more

Man Framed by Prosecutor Released After 29 Years in Prison Seeking Lawsuit

Image
19 year old, Charise Kamps, was found raped and strangled to death in her apartment in June 1980. Ralph Armstrong told the police that both of them were at the apartment alone doing cocaine before leaving to go see friends around 9:30 pm. Police said that they learned that Armstrong owed Kamp's boyfriend $400 and witnesses saw Armstrong handing Kamps money that night. However, the money was not found in the apartment, and Armstrong deposited $315 in his bank the next day.The defense argued that he got the money from his brother. One of the neighbors saw a lean, muscular man about 5 feet 5 inches tall with long, dark hair drive up to the apartment. Before the identification process, the police had the witness hypnotized. He was shown a photograph of Armstrong, and After being hypnotized, the witness changed the height of the man he saw. Later at a lineup to have the witness select the man he saw, he chose Armstrong. The other people in the lineup were police officers in wigs
Read more

Tuesday Tip: Reid Interrogation Technique

Image
Various methods have been used in police interrogations to elicit a confession. By far the most popular method used for over seventy years is the Reid Technique. This interrogation method assumes guilty suspects can be identified from certain behavioral cues. It is said to be proven as highly effective at getting confessions; however, there has been criticism about it for many years because it has been linked to many wrongful convictions.  Around 25 percent of post conviction DNA exonerations have been associated with a false confession from authorities using the Reid Technique. Even one of the first cases in which John Reid used this technique turned out to be a false confession. More and more scientists and scholars are saying this approach is based on outdated psychology. There are several components incorporated in this technique, including room design and how the investigator conducts the interview. There are three spatial zones the investigators use, which can be seen in
Read more