OSU student sues university after reporting rape incident involving football player

Marcus Trinidad, Web & Mobile Manager | Jarred Bierbrauer

An Oregon State University student filed a lawsuit against the school on Tuesday, claiming OSU retaliated and violated her rights after she said a former OSU football player raped her.

The lawsuit claims that OSU issued a mutual no-contact order to both defendant Jordan Pace, and against the victim identified as Jane Doe, according to the lawsuit filed in Oregon’s federal district court. The complaint filed against OSU accuses the university of sex discrimination under Title IX, violating her rights under the first and 14th amendments and violating her rights as a sexual assault victim.

A grand jury accused Pace of first degree rape, first degree unlawful penetration, first degree sodomy and second degree sexual abuse. Pace has pleaded not guilty to all charges with the trial date set for Oct. 15.

According to a letter sent to Doe from the OSU Office of Equal Opportunity and Access, the mutual no-contact directive specifies that the two parties must not have any intentional contact with each other. The lawsuit claims the order prohibits Doe’s communications with law enforcement and other government entities from involving Pace.

Due to the no-contact order, it has limited Doe to only the west side of campus, opposite from where Pace works. According to the lawsuit, Doe was denied an escort to and from campus by OSU’s Department of Public Safety. It also claims the order has restricted her access to educational opportunities, causing Doe to take courses online during the 2018 winter and spring terms.

According to Steve Clark, vice president of university relations and marketing, the no-contact directive is part of the OSU sexual assault reporting process.

In the lawsuit, it claims that there is no mention of a mutual no-contact order in the 2016 or 2017 Annual Security Report, which is mandated by the Clery Act to disclose all campus safety policies and procedures.

Clark said that the university administration is aware of the court filing but cannot comment on the litigation.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly identified the Office of Equal Opportunity and Access as ‘the Office of Equal and Access.’ 

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