Doe v. George Wash. Univ.

• Decision Date: 27 March 2019
• Docket Number: Civil Action No. 18-1391 (RBW)
• Citation: 369 F.Supp.3d 49
• Parties: Jane DOE 1, et al., Plaintiffs, v. The GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, et al., Defendants.
• Court: U.S. District Court — District of Columbia

369 F.Supp.3d 49

Jane DOE 1, et al., Plaintiffs,

v.The GEORGE WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY, et al., Defendants.

Civil Action No. 18-1391 (RBW)

United States District Court, District of Columbia.

Signed March 27, 2019

Brendan James Klaproth, Jesse Colin Klaproth, Klaproth Law PLLC, Washington, DC, for Plaintiffs.

Daniel I. Prywes, Frederick H. Schutt, Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP, Washington, DC, for Defendants.

MEMORANDUM OPINION

REGGIE B. WALTON, United States District Judge

The plaintiffs filed this civil action, using the pseudonyms Jane Does 1 to 5, against George Washington University ("GW") and Kyle Renner, a GW employee being sued in his capacity as GW's General Operations Manager and the plaintiffs' supervisor (collectively, "the defendants"), pursuant to the District of Columbia's Human Rights Act ("D.C. Human Rights Act"), D.C. Code §§ 2-1401 –1404.04 (2001), alleging that the defendants (1) created a hostile work environment ("Count I"), (2) retaliated against them for their complaints of sexual harassment ("Count II"), (3) discriminated against them because of their gender ("Count III"), and (4) aided and abetted the discriminatory and retaliatory conduct ("Count IV"). First Amended Complaint And Jury Demand ("Am. Compl.") ¶¶ 116, 123, 133, 140. The plaintiffs bring an additional three claims against GW for (1) negligent training and supervision ("Count V"); (2) indifference to sexual harassment in violation of Title IX of the Education Amendments Act of 1972 ("Title IX"), 20 U.S.C. §§ 1681 – 88 (2018) ("Count VI"); and (3) retaliation in violation of Title IX ("Count VII"). Am. Compl. ¶¶ 145, 149–50, 160. Currently before the Court are (1) the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss All Claims of Plaintiffs Jane Doe 1 and Jane Doe 3 and All Plaintiffs' Claims in Counts III and V of the Complaint ("Defs.' Mot."), (2) the Defendants' Motion to Dismiss the First Amended Complaint ("Defs.' 2d Mot."), and (3) the Plaintiffs' Motion for Leave to Proceed with the Pseudonyms Jane Does 1–5 ("Pls.' Mot."). Upon careful consideration of the parties' submissions,¹ the Court concludes for the reasons below that the defendants' motion to dismiss the Complaint must be denied as moot,² the plaintiffs' motion for leave to proceed pseudonymously should be granted, and the defendants' motion to dismiss the Amended Complaint must be granted in part and denied in part.

I. BACKGROUND

All five plaintiffs are female undergraduate students who attend GW. Am. Compl. ¶¶ 24, 37, 46, 71, 83. During the time period relevant to their claims against the defendants, the plaintiffs worked in various roles at the Institute for International Economic Policy ("IIEP"), see id., which is located within the Elliott School of International Affairs at GW, id. ¶ 17. Emerson Jones, one of the alleged perpetrators of the harassing conduct who is not a party to this action, was also employed by the IIEP in a supervisory position. Id. ¶ 19. When Jones began working at the IIEP, all of the plaintiffs, with the exception of Jane Doe 1, were already working there. See id. ¶¶ 24, 37, 71, 85. Later in the fall of 2017, Jane Doe 1 began her employment at the IIEP. See id. ¶ 46. The following are the plaintiffs' relevant allegations.

A. Jones's Alleged Conduct

According to the plaintiffs, beginning in March 2017, IIEP staff members complained to Renner about Jones's behavior. See id. ¶ 91. These complaints were allegedly largely ignored by Renner by his silencing of female complainants. See id. In general, Jones would purportedly "frequently brag in the workplace about his sexual exploitation of the women in the workplace." Id. ¶ 34. For example, Jones allegedly "publicly announced to the IIEP staff members his sexual rating of the female coworkers from best to worse." Id. ¶ 32. On another occasion, he purportedly described one of the women he raped as "a dead fish because she was so drunk." Id.

Jones was also allegedly verbally abusive to women employed in the IIEP. On one occasion, Jane Doe 2's coworker purportedly informed her that "Jones had been ‘degrading’ Jane Doe 2." Id. ¶ 33. In addition, Jane Doe 5 contends that she personally "observed Jones shut down a female coworker after the female coworker requested that Jones stop verbally harassing her." Id. ¶ 86. Jones allegedly became extremely aggressive, belittled her, and told the female coworker that she needed to stop being "emotional" and to get "used to this type of behavior in a work environment." Id. ³ Jane Doe 5 also contends that she heard "Jones talk to other coworkers in the workplace about women in a sexually demeaning way and has heard Jones brag about his sexual experiences." Id. ¶ 87.

"The female workers, including Jane Doe 5, felt extremely uncomfortable around Jones due to his aggressive behavior and misogynistic comments." Id. ¶ 85. According to Jane Doe 5, Jones would intentionally refer to the female employees by "the incorrect names

claiming that all the women in the office are the same." Id. ¶ 88. He also allegedly referred to new female staff members as his "new office crush[es]." Id. ¶ 42.

1. Jane Doe 1

Less than a month after Jane Doe 1 started working at the IIEP, Jones allegedly began harassing her. On October 1, 2017, she contends that Jones sent her a text message stating, "oh my god you're so hot." Id. ¶ 48. Within a week, on October 6, 2017, Jones allegedly asked Jane Doe 1 to come to his house, but she refused. Id. ¶ 49. According to Jane Doe 1, later that month, "[o]n October 26, 2017, [she] learned that Jones had threatened to kill her female coworker," which made Jane Doe 1 fearful of Jones. Id. ¶ 50. And on November 9, 2017, Jane Doe 1 contends that she received a text message from a female coworker, asking Jane Doe 1 if Jones had left the office. See id. ¶ 51. Jane Doe 1 represents that the coworker told her that she was hiding from Jones in fear that he would sexually assault her. See id.

Two days prior to an upcoming performance,⁴ Jane Doe 1 contends that she told Jones that she was "stressed about her [ ] performance." Id. ¶ 52. Jones allegedly asked if he could attend the performance, but Jane Doe 1 represents that she told him no. See id. On December 9, 2017, Jones allegedly sent Jane Doe 1 a text message, "containing a picture of [Jane Doe 1] during her performance." Id. ¶ 53. Apparently, despite Jane Doe 1's objections, Jones had attended the performance. See id. Three days later, Jones purportedly again asked Jane Doe 1 on a date, which she refused. Id. ¶ 54.

On December 19, 2017, Jane Doe 1 filed a complaint with Renner regarding Jones's behavior. See id. ¶ 58. After Jane Doe 1 "described Jones'[s] behavior toward her, and [ ] stated that one of her female coworkers had been raped[,] Renner responded, ‘sometimes you need to work with people that you don't necessarily get along with.’ " Id. On December 21, 2017, a Title IX investigator contacted Jane Doe 1 by email in response to her complaint, but allegedly "took no action beyond that email and failed to conduct any independent investigation beyond reaching out to the complainant." Id. ¶ 63. On January 30, 2018, Jane Doe 1 allegedly heard "Jones openly discuss[ing] his sexual exploits in the workplace," and began "demean[ing] the women he ‘slept with.’ " Id. ¶ 64.

Following Jane Doe 1's December 19, 2017 initial complaint to Renner, she contends that Jones "deliberately and intentionally increased his hostility towards her." Id. ¶ 66. For example, on February 1, 2018, Jane Doe 1 contends that "Jones treat[ed her] with hostility and harassed her as she quietly did her work." Id. Immediately thereafter, Jane Doe 1 represents that she observed Jones and Renner discussing something in Renner's office. See id."As a result, Jane Doe 1's supervisor told her that she was not allowed to work the event that evening even though the event was understaffed." Id.

On February 7, 2018, "Jane Doe 1 requested that she be demoted to [e]vent staff so that she would not have to interact with Jones anymore."Id. ¶ 67. "Jane Doe 1 was also given the option of working from home." Id. ¶ 68. Two days later, Jane Doe 1 met with the GW's Assistant Director for Sexual Assault Prevention and Response for the Office for Diversity, Equity, and Community Engagement ("ODECE"), and reported "Jones'[s] sexual harassment and sexual assault of Jane Doe 5." Id. ¶ 99. On March 6, 2018, Jane Doe 1 learned that her complaint to the ODECE would be treated as "student-on-student harassment," "rather than ‘staff-on-staff harassment’ even though the harassment was occurring in the IIEP workplace." Id. ¶¶ 99, 105.

On April 2, 2018, Jane Doe 1 contends that she was constructively discharged, having been "forced to resign out of her fear of interacting with Jones in the IIEP office." Id. ¶ 69.

2. Jane Doe 2

In May 2017, "Jones [allegedly] asked Jane Doe 2 to come over to his apartment." Id. ¶ 26. According to Jane Doe 2, "[o]nce there, Jones ignored Jane Doe 2's objections [to sexual activity] and sexually assaulted her." Id."Jane Doe 2 [contends that although she] tried to push Jones off of her ... [and] told him to stop multiple times, ... Jones raped Jane Doe 2." Id.

Throughout the fall of 2017, "Jones [allegedly] continued to torment Jane Doe 2." Id. ¶ 31. On one occasion, Jane Doe 2 contends that Jones told her that he would "never stick [his] dick into the pool of IIEP ever again." Id. Jones also purportedly "told Jane Doe 2's faculty supervisors and her coworkers" that he and Jane Doe 2 had sex. Id. ¶ 33.

On February 2, 2018, Jane Does 2 and 3 met with Renner. See id. ¶ 97. "Jane Doe 2 told Renner ... that Jones had raped her" and two other girls in the IIEP office. Id. Jane Doe 2 "also gave Renner a written statement that detailed Jones'[s] sexually hostile conduct and misogynistic comments in the workplace." Id. Renner responded that he would "talk to the Title IX office to see what he should do." Id. Renner then "recommended that Jane Doe 2 work from home." Id. On ...