The woman who accused Jameis Winston of rape has filed a federal civil lawsuit against Florida State’s trustees saying that the university violated her Title IX rights.
According to the Orlando Sentinel, Winston’s accuser says the school did not properly investigate the alleged December 2012 incident in which the star quarterback has never been charged and was recently cleared in a school code of conduct hearing.
Winston, who announced his intention to declare for the 2015 NFL Draft on Wednesday, has maintained that the two had consensual sex.
Now, in the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Orlando, the woman is asking for a trial by jury for the school’s “clearly unreasonable response” to the allegations and is seeking damages from the school for allowing a “hostile educational environment.”
The woman, who is no longer a Florida State student, is listed as Jane Doe in the complaint. The school has long defended its handling of the case, but the accuser and her attorneys have said the school intentionally did not comply with Title IX policies and deliberately delayed the investigation into the star quarterback.
Part of the complaint reads:
“Had FSU . . . instead complied with its own policies and federal law by promptly investigating plaintiff’s rape and sanctioning Winston while protecting plaintiff’s safety, Winston would have been removed as a threat to plaintiff long before ever suiting up to play football in a Seminoles jersey, and plaintiff would be on campus progressing toward an FSU degree. Instead, plaintiff was forced to leave campus while Winston remains, having suffered no consequences.”
Additionally, the complaint says that Florida State stalled the Tallahassee Police Department’s investigation into Winston “so that Winston’s FSU football career would be unaffected.”
Per the Sentinel, the woman is seeking “an unspecified amount of damages but not limited to reimbursement and payment for her educational expenses; payment of expenses incurred as a result of the sexual assault; damages for emotional pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life and lost future earnings.”
The lawsuit focuses on Florida State’s Title IX obligations under U.S. Department of Education statutes and does not name Winston or the Tallahassee Police Department.
A separate investigation into Florida State’s handling of Title IX investigations is being conducted by the U.S. Department of Education.
For more Florida State news, visit Warchant.com.
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Sam Cooper is a contributor for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!
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