The student sued Penn State over a sexual assault hearing dispute has withdrawn the lawsuit, according to a notice filed by his attorney Friday.
No reason was given in the motion for voluntary dismissal filed in U.S. District Court for Pennsylvania’s Middle District.
Identified as John Doe, the student had cited the violation of his rights to due process and equal protection during a sexual assault disciplinary prosecution. He also accused the university’s Student Conduct Office of altering its definition of consent to be fit to his situation.
A student conduct investigation determined that Doe had coerced another student, identified as Jane Roe, into having sex with him through text messages and conduct that amounted to “pressuring” and “cajoling.” As a result, Doe was suspended from Penn State for one year at a Title IX hearing in April.
The alleged sexual assault, which Roe reported in July 2018, is said to have taken place in January of that year when Doe and Roe were freshmen.
Doe’s federal complaint called the panel’s decision “an erroneous outcome resulting from impermissible gender discrimination.” He also alleged that the change in definition of coercion violated due process and deprived him of both a fair, reliable, and non-discriminatory trial and the presumption of innocence.
Additionally, he accused the university of: not allowing him to call witnesses on his behalf while confronting/cross-examining the accuser and adverse witnesses; not giving access to a “a fair, unbiased and unconflicted tribunal comprised of individuals who are separate and apart from, and not under, the auspices of the University’s Office of Student Conduct ‘prosecutor;’” and not permitting the active and meaningful participation of his attorney advisor.
