CINCINNATI — The University of Cincinnati is facing a new lawsuit, this time from a male student who was accused of sexual assault at a fraternity party last year. He claims the university mishandled its investigation, left out evidence, and did not conduct a fair disciplinary hearing or appeal.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Cincinnati in May, is the latest Title IX accusation leveled against the university. It also faces a lawsuit from two female ballet students who accuse the school of not protecting them from alleged sexual misconduct by a male ballet dancer student.
Both lawsuits accuse UC officials of a flawed investigatory process.
“It’s fair to say that the system at the University of Cincinnati has made nobody happy,” said attorney Josh Engel, who filed both lawsuits. “The common thread is that a lot of students believe that the decision has been made against them, or one way or another, right from the beginning of the process.”
A UC spokesperson declined to comment, but in a statement to WCPO last year said, “The university is focused on the well being of our students, faculty, and staff, and makes every effort to provide equitable processes to resolve concerns or complaints. We take these matters seriously as we strive to create an inclusive, safe, and supportive campus environment, and strongly encourage members of our university community to report concerns and discuss supportive measures with us.”
Engel’s newest lawsuit was filed on behalf of an anonymous student who is known as “John Noakes” in court filings. He was never criminally charged, but now faces expulsion after UC officials ruled against him at a disciplinary hearing and appeals panel.
He accuses the university of violating due process and Title IX, a law that protects students from gender discrimination, including assault, harassment, or violence. Schools that receive federal funding must comply with Title IX.
The U.S. Department of Education is currently investigating UC for five Title IX complaints, according to the federal website, which is noted in Engel’s most recent lawsuit.
In his two cases, Engel represents both an alleged perpetrator, Noakes, and two alleged victims, the ballet students who are anonymous but known in court filings as Karen Soe and Jane Roe.
“We have two cases, we have victims on one side, a suspect on the other, and you have the same outcome,” said Scott O’Reilly, a veteran prosecutor specializing in sexual assault who represented Noakes at his student hearings and works with Engel.
“They already made their determination in the beginning, in both cases, before they got all of the information, and that’s the concerning part,” said O’Reilly, who is now a prosecutor in Brown County.
WCPO set out to compare UC, which has a total enrollment of nearly 48,000, to other local public universities. It requested settlement agreements from Kent State University, Miami University, Northern Kentucky University, Ohio University and the University of Kentucky from 2017 to late 2022.
The five schools, with a combined total enrollment of more than 249,000 students, collectively paid out more than $3.7 million through 21 settlements to students, faculty and staff for alleged discrimination, civil rights violations, unequal pay, retaliation, wrongful termination or Title IX claims such as harassment, failure to investigate sexual misconduct or unfair treatment.
In contrast, UC has paid out more than $5.5 million in 23 similar settlements during the same time period. That includes a $2.75 million settlement in 2022 to former men’s basketball coach John Brannen, who claimed he was fired after a sham investigation.
“I think what you’re seeing from those numbers is more than just a university … having to resolve inevitable disputes,” Engel said. “The University of Cincinnati unfortunately has had a track record of not handling these matters well.”
Last November the University of Cincinnati spent $130,000 to settle a discrimination lawsuit with a former Cincinnati health commissioner who claimed he didn’t get an interview for a professor job because of his race.
Noble Maseru spent a decade at the helm of the city’s health department before retiring in 2016 and applying to UC. After he didn’t get a job, or an interview, he sued the school in 2018. UC had said in court documents that Maseru lacked experience. But the school reached a settlement with him three days before trial was set to begin in U.S. District Court.
WCPO spoke to three lawyers, including Engel, last November who described UC officials as unwilling to admit fault, concerned with protecting their reputation and historically difficult to resolve cases with.
They say UC could benefit from more investigators who are independent and well-trained, to evaluate student and staff allegations and reach fair outcomes.
"UC, like other public employers, their priority is not my client’s best interest. It’s the institution’s best interest," said attorney Marc Mezibov who has been an employment lawyer for 40 years and usually handles one to two cases a year involving UC.
Kati Neff, a partner at Freking Myers & Reul LLC, has handled five to 10 cases with UC in recent years — most with faculty and staff. She questioned how UC’s Office of Equal Opportunity and Access investigates complaints of discrimination.
“I have seen several times where OEOA has said somebody is not being paid appropriately but they will never take that next step to say … it was because of discrimination even when they have that evidence in front of them. It’s almost like they want to make the excuse,” Neff said.
Engel’s two lawsuits focus on UC’s Office of Equity, Inclusion and Community Impact.
“You don’t see these lawsuits for example against Xavier (University). You don’t see these lawsuits against other schools in the area that have adopted a model that is more respectful to students and more interested in having a process that leads to accurate and reliable results rather than a result that they want from the very beginning of the process,” Engel said.
