A student at Moravian College, a small liberal arts college in Bethlehem, is suing the school under Title IX for its response to her allegations of sexual assault.

The female student, identified in her complaint by the pseudonym Jane Doe, alleged in her complaint that another student, Abdulrahman Alghamdi, sexually assaulted her in the residence hall where they both lived. Alghamdi is also a named defendant in the case.

Doe alleges that the college created a hostile environment while her allegations of sexual assault were being investigated throughout the school year, by not taking measures to remove the alleged assaulter from her residence hall and classes.

Colleges have faced compliance challenges as Title IX guidance changed in recent years, and continue to be in flux under new guidance last year from the Department of Education. Education Secretary Betsy DeVos is reportedly preparing to release new rules that would reduce liability for colleges and universities and strengthen protections for students accused of sexual assault on campus.

According to the complaint, Doe and Alghamdi both started at Moravian in August 2016. Doe is still a student there, but Alghamdi has been expelled.

Shortly after they started at the school, the complaint said, both attended an event at the college. After the event, Alghamdi asked Doe to go for a walk with him but said he needed to get an item from his room first. While Doe was waiting, he asked her to enter the room, as it was taking him a while to find what he needed.

According to the complaint, when Doe entered the room, Alghamdi closed the door, pushed Doe onto his bed and anally raped her.

Doe said she reported the incident to a resident assistant, who allegedly told Doe “that he wasn't going to do anything about it because there would be 'a lot of paperwork to fill out.'” The complaint alleges that the college failed to adequately train that resident assistant, and failed to discipline him for his response to Doe's report.

A different resident assistant approached Doe early the next morning, and Doe told her what had happened. The second resident assistant reported the incident to the college's Title IX coordinator, Leah Naso Breisch, the complaint said.

“Despite having had notification of this alleged heinous, violent sexual act, Ms. Breisch did not immediately encourage the plaintiff to file an official report of sexual assault against the defendant Alghamdi,” the complaint said.

Alghamdi was eventually expelled, the complaint said, but until his hearing at the end of May 2017—nine months after the alleged assault—Alghamdi remained in the same residence hall as Doe and attended some of the same classes. He sat next to her in class “consistently,” the complaint alleged, despite a no-contact order.

The complaint said Breisch suggested that Doe move to a different residence hall and change her class schedule to avoid Alghamdi, but Doe did not do so because she did not want her parents to learn about the incident. Doe ultimately failed two of her classes due to lack of attendance, the complaint said.

Doe also alleged that Moravian offered counseling, but the counseling provided was “incompetent” and caused her to feel “victimized yet again.”

Doe has alleged Title IX claims, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence by the college. She has brought assault and battery and intentional infliction of emotional distress counts against Alghamdi.

Doe is represented by Lehigh Valley lawyers John Vivian, Adam Meshkov and Eleanor Breslin. No lawyers have entered their appearance yet for Moravian and Alghamdi.

A spokesman for Moravian said the college is aware of the complaint but declines to comment on active litigation.