A student at St. Joseph's University is suing the college over the way the administration and an outside lawyer it hired from Cozen O'Connor handled sexual misconduct allegations against him.

The complaint, filed May 15 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, does not name the student, referred to as John Doe, who was a sophomore at the Philadelphia school in the recently concluded spring semester. He is also suing the woman who alleged Doe assaulted her, referred to in the complaint as Jane Roe.

It's not the first time St. Joe's has faced litigation over its response to sexual misconduct allegations. Former student Brian Harris sued the school in 2013, alleging he was not granted a fair investigation before being suspended from the university. That case settled in 2015.

According to the complaint, Doe and Roe met at a party at nearby LaSalle University in February. Both lived in residence halls at St. Joe's, and after the party they went back to Doe's hall, and kissed in the common room, the complaint said, which Doe contends was consensual.

About a week later, the complaint said, Doe learned from the university's assistant director of community services that he had been accused of sexual misconduct. The school directed him toward certain resources for students accused of misconduct, the complaint said, but they were difficult to access. Additionally, the complaint said, Doe has ADHD, which added difficulty to the process.

Doe alleged that St. Joe's staff and the outside lawyer hired to investigate the allegations actively concealed evidence and information about the allegations against him. He also alleged that he was not sufficiently informed about the outside lawyer, Elizabeth Malloy, a partner at Cozen O'Connor, and her interests. 

“Since Malloy's client base is educational institutions, and it is educational institutions who solicit and hire her, there certainly would have been reason for Doe to question Malloy's 'bias,'” the complaint said. “But Doe was not made aware of these facts.”

Doe also pointed to Malloy's engagement in the #MeToo movement, specifically that she spoke at a Philadelphia Bar Association event on the topic. Malloy is not named as a defendant. 

According to the complaint, Doe learned a couple weeks into the investigation that “Roe claimed he 'squeezed her neck' while they were kissing and that it 'scared her.'”

After the investigation concluded, Doe learned that Malloy found him responsible for sexual assault by squeezing Roe's neck while they were kissing, the complaint said. According to the complaint, that was based in part on photos of bruises on Roe's neck, which Doe was not shown before the disciplinary decision was made. Malloy found that the kissing was consensual, but the contact that led to the bruises was not, the complaint said.

Doe said St. Joe's sexual misconduct policy does not allow an accused student's adviser to see documents, photos or the full report from an investigation.

He also alleges that Roe lied in several elements of her testimony, and contends that the bruises in the picture do not match up with the way he had touched Roe's neck while they were kissing. 

Doe filed an appeal to the decision, and St. Joe's community standards director, William Bordak, and assistant director Emily Forte filed responses, as well as Malloy. Malloy urged the Office of Student Life to dismiss the appeal, Doe alleges.

Additionally, the complaint said, Doe was not allowed to get the help of a lawyer in his appeal. Malloy's determination was ultimately affirmed by the appeal board.

Doe was placed on disciplinary probation, required to participate in online educational courses, write a reflection paper and have a follow-up with Bordak. In addition, he was ordered to avoid contact with Roe—which he contends is difficult on a small campus—and he was not allowed to participate in an already-planned and paid-for study abroad program in Ireland because of the probation.

Doe is suing the university for breach of contract, Title IX violations, intentional and negligent infliction of emotional distress, unfair trade practices and defamation. He is also suing Roe for defamation and intentional interference with contractual relations.

Edward Schwabenland of Schwabenland & Ryan in Wayne is representing Doe, along with Philadelphia lawyer John Mirabella.

Robert Bender of Montgomery McCracken Walker & Rhoads is representing the university. Called for comment, he referred to a spokesperson for the university, who did not respond Thursday afternoon.

A spokeswoman for Cozen O'Connor did not respond to requests for comment.