CLARKSBURG — A former student is suing Fairmont State University after she was sexually assaulted and alleges the university failed to protect her.
The board of governors, Shawn Evans, Phi Sigma Phi-Epsilon Zeta Chapter Inc. and Phi Sigma Phi National Fraternity were also named as defendants in the suit.
T.S. went to a party on Oct. 28, 2017, where people were drinking alcohol at the Phi Sigma Fraternity house located near the university's campus, according to a complaint filed Oct. 25 in U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia.
T.S. claims after the party, she was sexually assaulted by Evans, who was also a student at Fairmont and a member of the football team. T.S. was a 17-year-old freshman at the time of the incident.
T.S. did not immediately know who to contact at the university and feared to leave her dorm for risk of seeing Evans, according to the suit. Because of her fear, she failed all of her classes for the fall semester.
The university warned T.S. in March 2018 that she was not to have contact with Evans or that she would face expulsion and, later that month, it informed her that Evans had violated the university's sexual assault policy and issued a no-contact order between T.S. and Evans; suspended Evans for two semesters; and required Evans to seek counseling before re-admission, according to the suit.
T.S. claims as a result of the sexual assault, she withdrew from the university due to feeling unsafe and fear of Evans when he returned.
T.S. claims the defendants violated Title IX and were negligent.
T.S. is seeking compensatory and punitive damages. She is represented by Robert B. Warner and Kameron T. Miller of Warner Law Offices in Charleston.
U.S. District Court for the Northern District of West Virginia Case number: 1:19-cv-00199