Texas Christian University has become the focus of a federal lawsuit for allegedly mishandling a former student’s rape complaint. The lawsuit was filed Wednesday in the Eastern District of Virginia, where the anonymous plaintiff going by Emily Doe resides.
“The facts of this case demonstrate a shocking disregard for the safety and well-being of TCU’s female students,” O’Hagan Meyer partner Thomas Wolf, lead counsel for the victim, said in a news release. “TCU’s deliberate indifference to the pervasive problem of sexual assault on its campus has created a culture of impunity, where rapists are emboldened to commit crimes without fear of consequence. It is time for TCU to be held accountable for its failures and to take meaningful steps to protect its students from sexual violence. Given TCU’s track record, only the courts can make that happen.”
Doe, who reported that another TCU student raped her in October 2024, brings claims for discrimination, gross malfeasance, violation of Title IX and intentional infliction of emotional distress against TCU officials. TCU issued a statement to The Texas Lawbook denying any wrongdoing.
The complaint states she was out at Fort Worth bars with her friends and ran into another student who lived in her dormitory, who later raped her. Despite a unanimous finding by a TCU panel that Doe was raped by “Bob,” he was not punished, the lawsuit alleges.
“TCU transferred Bob, the man who had admitted his rape more than six months earlier, to another dormitory — like the Catholic church quietly moving a rapist priest from the parish where he raped and is known to another where he is unknown and can continue to rape,” the complaint reads.
According to the complaint, TCU’s board of trustees reports that the university recorded more than 560 sexual assault-rape reports between Aug. 15, 2020, and Dec. 31, 2024. The records show that TCU launched formal investigations in less than five percent of those cases.
During the 2024 fall semester, there were more than 60 reports of sexual assault-rape. According to TCU’s data, during the same timeframe, only three sexual assault-rape cases were formally investigated by TCU, and none resulted in disciplinary action, the lawsuit alleges.
“This case concerns TCU’s gross violation of Title IX in adopting and enforcing a policy of imposing no real consequence on male students who rape fellow female students,” the complaint reads. “Rather than protect female students from being raped, TCU adopted a policy to protect male students who rape. The policy is designed to create the illusion for female students of protecting them by compliance with Title IX, while not offending the male students who rape or the parents who pay more than $82,000 per year for their sons to attend TCU. The de facto policy is, ‘Boys will be boys, and we can’t let a moment of poor judgment that results in rape ruin a boy’s life, regardless of how it affects the girl’s’.”
Doe is seeking a total of $100 million in damages and a jury trial.
TCU told The Lawbook in a written statement that it’s first priority is to protect students.
“We do not ordinarily comment on student conduct cases. But in this case, a former student has filed a lawsuit demanding $100 million, and her lawyer has launched a media campaign making false claims about our university and its leadership, our students, our history of enforcing our community standards and the student conduct process,” the statement reads.
TCU said the accused student was suspended and is no longer enrolled at TCU.
“We take sexual assault claims seriously, and to spread false allegations and purposefully distort data is irresponsible and a dangerous mischaracterization of our students and our institution,” TCU said in a statement. “In any event, we will not accede to her lawyer’s repeated threats of an orchestrated media attack if we do not pay tens of millions of dollars.”
O’Hagan Meyer associate Clarissa Pintado is also representing the plaintiff.
The case is Emily Doe v. Texas Christian University, 1:25-cv-1513.