This is such a significant, and LONG overdue, ruling that recognizes male victims of false accusations in universities!

To truly understand why this ruling is a big deal, we only need to look back to around 15 years ago, when Obama’s April 4, 2011 Dear Colleague letter required the lowest standard of evidence in campus sexual misconduct cases!

Naturally, that led to far too many UNFAIR cases.

This case itself highlights the severe human cost of that shift.

A male student at the University of Maryland was falsely accused in October 2020. A Title IX hearing in August 2021 found him not responsible, with the hearing officer writing that the accuser’s credibility was “significantly undermined” and that forensic testing contradicted her claims.

Despite being cleared, the harassment did NOT stop. He was called a rapist, confronted, and removed from the club lacrosse team after the team was told he was a rapist and under investigation.

The jury ultimately found the university “deliberately indifferent,” ruling that the harassment was “so severe, pervasive, and objectively offensive that it deprived him of equal access to an educational opportunity or benefit.”

His lawyer, Jason Greaves, noted that this is the first time a jury has found that false accusations of rape can constitute sexual harassment, and the first time a university has been held liable for it. As Greaves explained, “A school that will move heaven and earth for an accuser, then declare itself powerless once the accused has been cleared and is being publicly destroyed, has discriminated on the basis of sex.”

Greaves also emphasized the intent behind the legal battle: “We asked for only $1 in damages because this case was not about money. Our client wanted accountability.”

Ultimately, this verdict establishes a vital legal precedent for male students, signaling that universities cannot simply wash their hands of a wrongfully accused young man once a disciplinary proceeding ends.

By holding institutions accountable for post-clearance harassment, the ruling forces a long overdue reckoning with how schools handle the safety and equal educational access of male students who have been cleared of misconduct.

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