A student has sued Williams College in Massachusetts for suspending him after an investigation found he kissed a female student and then chose not to date her.
The woman later accused him of behaving in ways that were “culturally insensitive” to her conservative religious values.
According to the College Fix, the complaint, both of the unnamed students are from foreign countries.
The lawsuit by “John Doe” against “Sally Smith” charges the college misrepresented the evidence in the case, ignored messages from the female “expressing positive feelings about their first amorous encounter” and didn’t properly apply the standards of proof.
U.S. District Judge Mark Mastroianni granted Doe permission to continue his litigation under a pseudonym.
The college did not respond to requests by The College Fix for comment.
Doe alleges the investigation and hearing in his case were unfair because the college declined to judge the credibility of Smith and witnesses “face to face.” And he contends Smith physically threatened him but the college did nothing.
He said Smith had a history of making “repeated accusations of cultural insensitivity,” casting doubt on her accusations against him.
The school’s “gender bias” also worked against him, the complaint contends.
Doe says Smith initiated the relationship in 2016, telling friends before their first dinner that she was interested in him.
“She told him on a walk after dinner that she had ‘never kissed a boy’ owing to the ‘restrictive cultural norms in her home country,'” The College Fix said.
“John asked for Sally’s permission to kiss her in his dorm room, and she agreed. The kissing escalated to ‘consensual touching’ while fully clothed,” the report said.
Later she told him, “I’ve liked you quite a lot.”
The complaint says Doe responded with an offer to “hang out.”
Weeks later, Smith “expressed anger about what she saw as Doe’s cultural insensitivity around their prior interaction” and that was that he did not seek a romantic relationship with her after showing physical affection, the complaint says.
The report said Doe was panicked when Smith allegedly said she “had lots of people ready to hurt him.”
Smith later filed Title IX paperwork alleging the encounters were “nonconsensual.”
The lawsuit asks that the college records against the male student be expunged and that he be awarded compensatory and punitive damages.
