Title IX requires schools to investigate sexual assault allegations, even if criminal charges weren’t filed. ![]() Thrasher called the suit without merit when it was filed in January 2015 and said FSU officials asked her nine times over a 20-month period to provide a statement that would enable a Title IX investigation. Kinsman filed her lawsuit as Jane Doe, alleging that FSU “in concert with Tallahassee Police, took steps to ensure that Winston’s rape of plaintiff would not be investigated either by the university or law enforcement.” She further accused the school of failing to respond when she became a target of hostility.ĬNN doesn’t normally identify the alleged victims of sexual assault however, Kinsman revealed her name this year in a documentary about rape on college campuses. My hope is that the federal investigation of my complaint by the Office of Civil Rights will produce even more positive change, not just at FSU, but across the country.” “I am happy that FSU has committed to continue making changes in order to ensure a safer environment for all students. “I’ll always be disappointed that I had to leave the school I dreamed of attending since I was little,” she said. Kinsman, who is slated to graduate this spring with a degree in mass communications from another four-year university, said she was pleased the school enacted new policies and education initiatives, and she expressed hope that a federal investigation into her ordeal would produce even more changes. Read: CNN panel discusses campus sex assaultįSU is committed to ensuring students don’t experience sexual harassment or assault, Thrasher said, pointing to several measures the Tallahassee university has undertaken, including forming a sexual assault prevention task force, hiring an interpersonal violence expert as its Title IX coordinator, publishing a victims’ rights handbook, adding positions related to campus safety and requiring incoming freshmen to take an online course about sex and relationships. … We had no need to break down that amount.”Ĭlune pointed to the settlement document, which provides the breakdown cited by Thrasher but also notes in the following paragraph that the breakdown “does not necessarily reflect the allocation between Kinsman and her counsel.” Though Thrasher said in his statement that Kinsman will receive $250,000 of the settlement and her attorneys will get $700,000, Kinsman’s lawyer, John Clune, told CNN that was not true and the attorneys fees “are not going to be anything close to $700,000. “With all the economic demands we face, at some point it doesn’t make sense to continue even though we are convinced we would have prevailed.” ![]() “We have an obligation to our students, their parents and Florida taxpayers,” he said. ![]() The main reason the school settled, Thrasher said, was to avoid millions of dollars in legal expenses. “Although we regret we will never be able to tell our full story in court, it is apparent that a trial many months from now would have left FSU fighting over the past rather than looking toward its very bright future,” Thrasher said, adding that he was confident the trial would’ve yielded the same conclusion as two investigations and a student conduct hearing that cleared Winston. Florida State University has reached a $950,000 settlement with a former student who sued the school after alleging she was raped by Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback Jameis Winston, school President James Thrasher said in a Monday statement.Įrica Kinsman has agreed to drop her Title IX lawsuit against the school, the statement said.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |