Former Student Settles Lawsuit with UC Santa Cruz for $1.15M
The lawsuit did not name the alleged victim or perpetrator.
UCSC Chancellor George Blumnthal says the school launched a swift and thorough Title IX investigation into the student's claims.
A former student settled a lawsuit with the University of California Santa Cruz for $1.15 million in one of the largest Title IX settlements in history.
The female claimed she was raped by a professor that university officials knew had been sexually harassing undergraduate students for years, reports ksbw.com.
The settlement came before a civil lawsuit or criminal charges were filed and the professor’s name has not been released.
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“How many more students will it take for the universities in this country to get the message that they must act to safeguard their students from predatory faculty?” Attorney John Kristensen asked. “We hope this settlement sends a message to the UC system that it must take responsibility for its secrecy and its failure to protect its students.”
UCSC Chancellor George Blumenthal said the professor violated the school’s sexual violence policies and that the victim’s allegations were investigated immediately.
Kristensen said the alleged rape scarred his client for life and that she left UCSC despite previously planning to get her graduate degree from the school.
“The campus cooperated with a law enforcement investigation and simultaneously launched a swift and thorough Title IX investigation of the allegations against the faculty member,” Chancellor Blumenthal said in a statement after the settlement was announced. “When our preliminary investigation warranted action, we immediately removed the faculty member from campus, prohibited all contact with students, and placed the individual on leave pending the outcome of the Title IX investigation.”
The professor resigned June 1 last year.
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