FAYETTEVILLE (AP) — A federal appeals court says a former athlete at the University of Arkansas who reported being raped by another student can continue her lawsuit against the school.
The 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in St. Louis said Wednesday that, by accepting federal dollars, the university waived immunity from lawsuits under certain federal anti-discrimination laws.
The woman says school officials acted with “deliberate indifference” after she reported the assault in 2014. School lawyers say the perpetrator was expelled and that, while her story was a tragedy, the school did not cause it. An Arkansas federal judge had said the lawsuit could continue.
Attorneys general in seven states, including Arkansas’ Leslie Rutledge, had sided with the school over sovereign immunity issues. They said Congress didn’t intend to have states waive immunity.
