Liberty University Accused by Plaintiff in Class-Action Lawsuit of ‘Retraumatizing’ and ‘Insulting’ Jane Does
A plaintiff in the class-action lawsuit against Liberty University says the university retraumatized and “insulted” her and other Jane Does in a recent mediation.
The lawsuit against Lynchburg, Virginia-based Liberty University was filed last July and initially included 12 Jane Does who alleged that the university created an unsafe environment that led to on-campus rapes. Another 10 Jane Does later joined the lawsuit.
An attorney for the women, Jack Larkin, said 20 of the Jane Does settled with Liberty University during mediation at the end of April, but two of the women refused the settlement.
One of the women, Sarah Mays, told The Roys Report that she was gang raped. She said she suffered extensive emotional and mental trauma because of how the college handled her rape case.
Mays said Liberty first offered her a $5,000 settlement, but she refused. They later issued a final offer of $35,000, but she said she was hoping for a seven-figure settlement.
“Every Jane Doe that I’ve spoken with was insulted with these numbers. I don’t know why (Liberty) even wasted our time.”
She also said Liberty officials accused her of lying during mediation, which again brought up the trauma she said she dealt with years ago when she said school officials mishandled the rape case.
“It shows you the culture has not changed,” Mays told TRR. “The same exact tactic they used 20 years ago to silence me, they’re using 20 years later.
“If anything, this has definitely given me a voice, which is something I’ve never really had before,” she said.
Mays previously told her story on the podcast Gangster Capitalism. During the episode, Mays said that five men gang raped her in 2001 in a shopping mall parking lot in Lynchburg.
She said she became pregnant, and one of the men was stalking her on campus. She filed reports with Liberty’s campus police and the Lynchburg Police Department.
Liberty officials reportedly told her at the time that she could be found to have violated the student code of conduct, the “Liberty Way,” which prohibits sex or pregnancy outside of marriage.
She also said a Liberty dean told her she could enter the Liberty Godparent Home, a program for unmarried pregnant women, and give up her baby.
She refused and kept the baby.
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Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Chip Somodevilla/Staff
Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.
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