Doe v. Am. Univ.
| Decision Date | 18 September 2020 |
| Docket Number | Case No. 19-cv-03097 (APM) |
| Parties | JOHN DOE, Plaintiff, v. AMERICAN UNIVERSITY, Defendant. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — District of Columbia |
Plaintiff is an American University student proceeding under the pseudonym John Doe. He filed this lawsuit against American University alleging that the school mishandled a sexual assault investigation into Doe, which resulted in a year-and-a-half suspension. Plaintiff brings five causes of action—one each under Title IX and the District of Columbia Human Rights Act, two breach of contract claims, and one negligence claim. Defendant moves to dismiss all five claims for failure to state a claim under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6), and Plaintiff moves for partial summary judgment on a portion of his contract claims. For the reasons that follow, the court grants in part and denies in part Defendant's motion to dismiss and denies Plaintiff's motion for partial summary judgment.
Plaintiff John Doe was enrolled at American University ("AU" or "the University") from the fall of 2015 through the spring of 2019. Compl., ECF No. 3 [hereinafter Compl.], ¶ 1. On April 22, 2016, Doe, his friend, H.S., and a woman, Jane Roe, spent the evening at Doe's apartment, id. ¶ 2, where Doe and H.S. drank alcohol and Roe ate a marijuana-laced brownie, id. From there, Doe and Roe's accounts of the evening differ dramatically, but each agrees that some sort of physical contact occurred between the two of them, after which Roe and H.S. left Doe's apartment. Id. ¶¶ 3-5; see also Mot. to Dismiss Compl., ECF No. 13 [hereinafter Mot. to Dismiss], Sealed Exhibits, ECF No. 15 [hereinafter MTD Ex. ___], MTD Ex. 1, Investigation Report [hereinafter Investigation Report], at 3-4.
Doe describes the events of April 22, 2016, as follows. H.S. and Roe came over to Doe's apartment that evening. Roe ate a portion of a marijuana-laced brownie, and Doe and H.S. drank alcohol. Compl. ¶¶ 2, 96-97. Doe says that "[t]he brownie did not appear to have a noticeable effect on Ms. Roe while she was at Mr. Doe's apartment." Id. ¶ 98. At some point during the evening, H.S. left the living room and went into the bathroom—either because he became ill from drinking too much alcohol, or to speak with a friend over video chat. Id. ¶¶ 3, 100.1 While H.S. was in the bathroom, Roe initiated kissing Doe. Both were fully clothed. Id. ¶ 3. Roe then guided Doe's head to her breasts, at which point he began to touch her chest over her clothing. Roe did not object. Id. ¶¶ 3, 101. Roe then guided Doe's head to her crotch, where he then placed his mouth over her clothing. Id. ¶¶ 3, 102. Before doing so, Doe says, he asked Roe, "is this what you want me to do?" and she responded, "yes." Id. ¶¶ 3, 103. According to Doe, "[t]hroughout the time that they were physical with each other in his apartment, Mr. Doe asked for Ms. Roe's consent." Id. ¶ 4. Soon after their interaction, Roe ordered an Uber, and she and H.S. left. Before leaving, Roe hugged Doe and thanked him for being caring. Id. ¶ 5. When Roe got back to her dorm room, she texted Doe to tell him that H.S. had vomited in the Uber on the wayhome but that he was "fine" and "OK." Id. ¶¶ 6, 105. Doe texted Roe the following morning to ask how she was doing, and she responded that she was "doing okay." Id. ¶ 106. Roe then texted Doe that evening asking if he was "okay with everything." Id. ¶¶ 6, 107. He responded, "[y]eah, I am," and asked whether Roe was okay. She replied, "[y]eah I'm tired but okay." Id.
Roe's account of the evening, recorded in the Title IX Investigation Report, differs dramatically. See generally Investigation Report. Roe met Doe in the fall of 2015, during her freshman year at AU. Id. at 3. She and Doe lived in the same residence hall that semester, but Doe moved out during the 2016 spring semester. Id. Roe met Doe through a mutual friend, H.S. Id. During her spring semester, Roe mentioned to H.S. that she wanted to try using marijuana. She and H.S. decided she would try marijuana on April 22, 2016. Id. Roe estimated that she and H.S. arrived at Doe's apartment around 10:00 p.m. Id. She remembers being surprised that Doe and H.S. were drinking, because Doe had abstained in the past due to his religion, and H.S. had promised not to drink since Roe was trying marijuana that night. Id. H.S. brought a marijuana brownie, which he had purchased from someone in their residence hall. Id. H.S. broke off a portion of the brownie, which Roe ate. Id.
About 45 minutes after eating the brownie portion, Roe reports that she "hit the floor like a rock." Id. She felt dizzy and fell to the floor. Id. From that point forward, her memory was "a bit blurry," but she remembers that Doe and H.S. moved her to the couch. Id. She continued to feel "out of it." Id. At some point, Roe believes she agreed to receive a back massage from Doe, which prompted him to sit beside her on the couch. Id. Doe began to massage her back and neck, but then Doe's hands moved lower "towards her hip area." Id. H.S. was still in the room at this point. Id. Roe reports that she was having difficulty understanding what washappening but felt that it was "something bad." Id. at 3-4. She remembers Doe asking, "where do you want to put my hand," "do you want me to go lower," and "do you consent." She felt confused and answered "yes," "maybe," and "what" to Doe's questions. Id. Doe and H.S. kept telling Roe to "say yes" when asked if she "consented," and because she was having difficulty processing what was happening, she kept responding "yes." Id. at 4.
Roe says that Doe continued to massage her and moved his hands closer to her breasts. Id. Roe stood up to leave and fell, hitting her hip on the coffee table. Id. Doe and H.S. asked why she had gotten up. Afraid to tell them that she wanted to leave, Roe said that she needed to use the bathroom. Id. Doe helped her to the bathroom, and then helped her back to the couch. Id. Back on the couch, Doe began to massage her again, and Doe and H.S. continued to talk to her about "consent." Id. Doe and H.S. also conducted a hushed conversation between themselves. Id. She heard H.S. reassure Doe that everything was "fine" because it was consensual, and that if Roe told anyone is was not consensual, Doe and H.S. would tell people she was "crazy." Id. When Doe returned to the couch, he placed Roe's head near his crotch. Id. Doe then moved Roe to a sitting position, at which point H.S. placed the rest of the marijuana-laced brownie in her mouth and told her to eat it. Id. Roe reported that she was afraid and felt that she had no choice but to eat the brownie. After finishing the brownie, Roe began to feel dizzy "and became more disoriented and confused." Id. Doe then sat back down on the couch, pulled her shirt up, put his hands under her bra, and touched her breasts while kissing her mouth and neck. Id. Next, he began to touch "her butt and crotch over her pants." Id.
At some point, Roe heard H.S. speaking with a friend over video chat. She heard the friend say "[Roe] doesn't look good," "[w]hy is she on [Doe] like that," and "why is [Doe] touching her." Id. at 4-5. H.S. then left the room to continue the conversation. Id. at 5. WhileH.S. was out of the room, Doe continued to kiss her and touch her breasts. When H.S. returned to the room, he asked Roe if she consented to what was happening, and she did not respond. H.S. then told her to "say yes," so she said "yes." Id. Next, Roe stated that H.S. leaned over the couch and kissed her "violently," put his tongue in her mouth, and grabbed her breast. Id. H.S. then stood up, starting to scream, and vomited. Doe got up from the couch and took H.S. to the bathroom where she could hear him continue to vomit. Id.
Doe came back into the living room and, without saying anything, pulled Roe's leggings and underwear down, and inserted his fingers into her vagina. Id. Roe was scared and in a lot of pain. Id. She reported that the pain was so extreme that she screamed "no," "no," and "stop." Id. Doe removed his fingers and crossed to the other side of the room. Id. At that point, Roe says she realized that if she did not leave immediately "something bad was going to happen." Id. She pulled her leggings back up and sat on the couch, staring at her shoes and trying to figure out how she could tie her laces. Id. She hugged Doe goodbye because she did not want him to know she was upset, afraid that, if he knew, "something bad could happen." Id.
Roe ordered an Uber, at which point H.S. came out of the bathroom and said he was leaving with her. Id. She told him "no," but he insisted, and she agreed. Id. While waiting for the car, H.S. told Roe not to "tell anyone what happened," especially not Roe's roommate. Id. H.S. vomited during the car ride home; Roe apologized to the Uber driver and told H.S. to go upstairs. Id. When she reached her dorm room, Roe reports that she "was hysterical, and began to cry." Id. Roe's roommate asked if she was okay, and Roe asked her to go check on H.S. because she was worried that he had alcohol poisoning. Id. When Roe's roommate returned, the roommate told Roe to go to bed. Id. Roe went to sleep. She awoke around 7:30 a.m. the nextday and still felt high. Id. She went back to sleep; when she woke up later in the day "she felt more clearheaded but slightly delirious." Id. at 6.
Roe's roommate again asked Roe what happened the previous night. Roe told her roommate that H.S. and Doe said she had consented, but in fact she had not wanted what they did to her. Id. Her roommate clarified whether she meant H.S., and Roe said "no, no with [Doe], but [H.S.] was there." Id. Roe remembers feeling delirious during this conversation and she spent the rest of the day in bed. Id. She still felt high that afternoon. Id.
On April 24, 2016, Roe felt better physically and told her roommate more...
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