Ex-Baylor Student Settles Title IX Lawsuit with School
A former Baylor student who was sexually assaulted by a football player settled her Title iX lawsuit against the school, ESPN.com reported.
Jasmin Hernandez reached a financial settlement with the school last weekend, according to her attorney.
Hernandez sued the school in 2016 alleging they did nothing to stop sexual assaults on campus, including incidents involving former football player Tevin Elliott.
Elliott is serving 20 years in prison after being convicted on two counts of sexually assaulting Hernandez in 2012.
The lawsuit was filed two months before the school released the results of an internal investigation by law firm Pepper Hamilton that concluded that there were “institutional failures at every level” at Baylor in addressing sexual violence on campus.
"You kind of weigh the costs and benefits of continuing, and for her, it reached a point where she felt she could resolve the case and have some closure and move forward," Hernandez's attorney Alexander Zalkin said. "It was the right time for her."
Head football coach Art Briles was fired, athletic director Ian McCaw was suspended and resigned, and other department employees were fired as a result of the Hamilton report.
Briles' attorney, Mark Lanier, says that Briles "wouldn't pay a dime. They just let us out of the case. We feel bad for what happened to Jasmin Hernandez, but Art Briles didn't do anything wrong."
"As to Mr. Lanier's comments, I disagree with his position but will not make any further comment so as not to violate the confidential terms of our agreement or mediation confidentiality," Zalkin said.
The school had faced up to a half-dozen lawsuits from women who say the university did nothing for years, while sexual assault was rampant on campus. Baylor is also being investigated by the U.S. Department of Education for their response to sexual assaults.
