Yesterday, plaintiff Alyssa Reid filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia alleging due process, Title IX, and other violations by James Madison University staff over a Title IX investigation that, she alleges, was enacted “to exact revenge for a bad breakup” with her ex-girlfriend Kathryn Lese.
The complaint states that Reid was “passionate about education and teaching and felt especially compelled to help her students craft their own voices in order to advocate for those things that were important to them, whether it be the arts, politics, LGBTQ issues, or interpersonal relationships. She has long been a staunch advocate for survivors of harassment and abuse and used her debating and communications skills to give voice to their experiences [emphasis added].”
The Complaint
The strongly worded complaint involves language commonly used to describe the plight of male plaintiffs (“weaponized Title IX,” “revenge for a bad breakup,” “he said, she said,” etc.).
The complaint also acknowledges the incredible reputational, educational, and career harm incurred by false allegations of sexual abuse:
The complaint also argues Reid was deprived of the right to cross-examination – one of the more controversial provisions of the Devos regulations.
This complaint does differ in a key respect, however: the alleged sexual abuse Reid was punished for was a “nonconsensual relationship” due to Reid’s position in the academic community (“Speech Team’s Assistant Director of Forensics”; Lese took “a graduate assistantship with the team in 2014”).
Reid is represented by Harriet Hageman (the leading attorney) and John J. Vecchione of the New Civil Liberties Alliance, which issued a press release yesterday. According to Harriet Hageman, Senior Litigation Counsel:
JMU readily jumped in on the side of our client’s accuser, becoming an advocate for what appears to have been an act of revenge over a bad breakup between two consenting adults. When Ms. Reid sought JMU’s assistance under Title IX to stop her ex-girlfriend’s harassment and abuse, JMU never bothered to respond. Instead, these Defendants moved forward with a ‘sham’ hearing, shielding the accuser from cross-examination and from having to support her accusations. These Defendants must be held accountable for their actions and prohibited from violating anyone else’s due process and confrontation clause rights in the future.
We’ll be monitoring this case closely. You can find it in our Title IX Lawsuits Database.
Thank You for Reading
If you like what you have read, feel free to sign up for our newsletter here:
Support Our Work
About the Author
Related Posts
2 Comments
Comments are closed.
More from Title IX for All
Accused Students Database
Research due process and similar lawsuits by students accused of Title IX violations (sexual assault, harassment, dating violence, stalking, etc.) in higher education.
OCR Resolutions Database
Research resolved Title IX investigations of K-12 and postsecondary institutions by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
Attorneys Directory
A basic directory for looking up Title IX attorneys, most of whom have represented parties in litigation by accused students.
Yesterday, plaintiff Alyssa Reid filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Virginia alleging due process, Title IX, and other violations by James Madison University staff over a Title IX investigation that, she alleges, was enacted “to exact revenge for a bad breakup” with her ex-girlfriend Kathryn Lese.
The complaint states that Reid was “passionate about education and teaching and felt especially compelled to help her students craft their own voices in order to advocate for those things that were important to them, whether it be the arts, politics, LGBTQ issues, or interpersonal relationships. She has long been a staunch advocate for survivors of harassment and abuse and used her debating and communications skills to give voice to their experiences [emphasis added].”
The Complaint
The strongly worded complaint involves language commonly used to describe the plight of male plaintiffs (“weaponized Title IX,” “revenge for a bad breakup,” “he said, she said,” etc.).
The complaint also acknowledges the incredible reputational, educational, and career harm incurred by false allegations of sexual abuse:
The complaint also argues Reid was deprived of the right to cross-examination – one of the more controversial provisions of the Devos regulations.
This complaint does differ in a key respect, however: the alleged sexual abuse Reid was punished for was a “nonconsensual relationship” due to Reid’s position in the academic community (“Speech Team’s Assistant Director of Forensics”; Lese took “a graduate assistantship with the team in 2014”).
Reid is represented by Harriet Hageman (the leading attorney) and John J. Vecchione of the New Civil Liberties Alliance, which issued a press release yesterday. According to Harriet Hageman, Senior Litigation Counsel:
JMU readily jumped in on the side of our client’s accuser, becoming an advocate for what appears to have been an act of revenge over a bad breakup between two consenting adults. When Ms. Reid sought JMU’s assistance under Title IX to stop her ex-girlfriend’s harassment and abuse, JMU never bothered to respond. Instead, these Defendants moved forward with a ‘sham’ hearing, shielding the accuser from cross-examination and from having to support her accusations. These Defendants must be held accountable for their actions and prohibited from violating anyone else’s due process and confrontation clause rights in the future.
We’ll be monitoring this case closely. You can find it in our Title IX Lawsuits Database.
Thank You for Reading
If you like what you have read, feel free to sign up for our newsletter here:
Support Our Work
About the Author
Related Posts
2 Comments
-
Interesting enough in this article it is not mentioned that the other party involved was a student and that Alyssa was her boss. I think you missed that bit.
Comments are closed.
More from Title IX for All
Accused Students Database
Research due process and similar lawsuits by students accused of Title IX violations (sexual assault, harassment, dating violence, stalking, etc.) in higher education.
OCR Resolutions Database
Research resolved Title IX investigations of K-12 and postsecondary institutions by the Department of Education’s Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
Attorneys Directory
A basic directory for looking up Title IX attorneys, most of whom have represented parties in litigation by accused students.
Interesting enough in this article it is not mentioned that the other party involved was a student and that Alyssa was her boss. I think you missed that bit.
We addressed it near the end:
“This complaint does differ in a key respect, however: the alleged sexual abuse Reid was punished for was a “nonconsensual relationship” due to Reid’s position in the academic community (“Speech Team’s Assistant Director of Forensics”; Lese took “a graduate assistantship with the team in 2014”).”