Loyola University Chicago is taking legal action in a sexual assault lawsuit filed by 10 former students. Less than a month after Chicago journalists reported on an alleged 2019 sexual assault of a student identified as “Jane Doe G,” the university asked a federal judge to throw out her claims without a trial.
“I was not an isolated case. I was the victim of a serial offender on the Loyola University campus, and I was not the first person it happened to. That means my situation might not have happened if the university had responded in time,” “Jane Doe G” told NBC Chicago. She is one of 10 former students who have sued Loyola University, claiming they were victims of sexual assault. According to the NBC 5 Investigates team, the university filed a motion for summary judgment, seeking to remove “Jane Doe G” from the case. The student’s attorney said Loyola University is trying to portray each woman’s story as an isolated incident. “This case is not about individual incidents or assaults. It’s about institutional responsibility,” the attorney stressed.
A Loyola spokesperson said the university cannot comment on ongoing litigation. The new court documents were filed Friday, the deadline for both sides in the dispute. A hearing is scheduled for September of next year. “Jane Doe G” joined the lawsuit in March 2023. She accuses Loyola of systematically mishandling students’ complaints about sexual misconduct since 2011 and of underreporting the number of such complaints.
Loyola’s attorneys now argue that the complaint filed by “Jane Doe G” came too late because the statute of limitations had expired, and that the evidence presented does not support her allegations. In court filings, Loyola also claims it responded “promptly” when the student told her instructor about the 2019 incident. She was contacted within 24 hours, and the accused student’s dorm privileges were suspended; he was ultimately expelled from the university.
However, court records show the student was expelled more than nine months after the case was first reported. Loyola also claims that “Jane Doe G” was not “deprived of any educational opportunities,” noting that she graduated on time and is successfully building a professional career. Her attorney disputes that position. “This is about opportunities that were denied to her on campus, namely full participation in student life, involvement in extracurricular activities, and a sense of safety in the dorms or during classes,” said the attorney representing the injured party.
“Jane Doe G” stresses that the effects of the experience reach beyond education. “This event changed my life physically as well. I now suffer from frequent seizures triggered by stress, which is extremely distressing. My body will probably never function the way it should again, and I am limited in that respect,” she said.
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Source: Polski.FM
