U. of Connecticut Settles Sexual-Assault Case for $1-Million-Plus

The University of Connecticut has settled a federal sexual-assault lawsuit with five women for a total of more than $1-million, the Associated Press reports. The lawsuit, which asserted that the university’s response to reports of sexual assault was inadequate, was filed in November by four plaintiffs.

A fifth woman, who joined the lawsuit in December, will receive most of the money: $900,000. She said she had been kicked off the university’s hockey team after reporting that she had been raped by a male hockey player.

A separate investigation into whether the university had failed to comply with Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is being conducted by the U.S. Education Department’s Office for Civil Rights. The agency was responding to complaints filed by the four women who filed the lawsuit and three others. That investigation will continue, even though, under the terms of the settlement, the four have agreed to withdraw their complaints.

The university did not admit wrongdoing.

For more, see this Chronicle article.