Student charges Brown U. with breach of contract in wake of alleged date rape

In the aftermath of an alleged date rape at Brown University, Brown senior Adam Lack filed a complaint in U.S. District Court last Friday charging the university with breach of contract, negligence and gender discrimination. Lack also charged the alleged victim, Brown sophomore Sara Klein, with libel. Klein had accused Lack of sexual misconduct before the Brown University Disciplinary Council after he allegedly raped her last February 3. During the proceeding, Klein admitted to drinking as many as 10 shots of alcohol that night before going to the Delta Tau fraternity house, according to Brown spokesperson Marc Nickel. Lack, who lived at the Delta Tau house last year, went to a friend's room to borrow a CD and found Klein lying near a pool of vomit. He claims he offered her some water and she walked unassisted to his room, where she initiated sexual contact. Lack said they talked and smoked cigarettes for hours, and that she gave him her phone number before leaving the next morning. Klein says she was too drunk to remember the incident, but Lack maintains that she did not seem too intoxicated not to realize what she was doing. Nickel added that Klein did not dispute Lack's version of the story. The UDC found Lack guilty of sexual misconduct last May, and Dean of Students Robin Rose sentenced him to a one-semester suspension. But when Lack appealed the decision, Brown Provost James Pomerantz reduced the charge against him to flagrant disrespect, and lessened the punishment from suspension to a two-semester probation. The charge and penalty were reduced, rather than dropped, because "standards of respect for the well-being of others should extend to refraining from sexual activity with an individual who is or has been drinking alcohol to the point of vomiting," Pomerantz said in a written release. Lack has now filed civil suits against Klein and the university. "He was falsely accused of something he did not do, and has been profoundly humiliated as a result," Lack's lawyer David Casey said. "He wants a forum that cares about evidence and truth, and doesn't proceed on preconceived notions." Casey explained that the breach of contract count accuses the university of violating its obligation to treat Lack fairly by applying rules and procedures outlined in Brown's student handbook in an "unreasonable and arbitrary" way. But the university maintains that it followed the correct procedures. "Brown has a process for hearing complaints and followed the process laid out in the student handbook exactly, including right of appeal," Nickel said. The complaint also accuses Brown of violating Title IX of the Federal Higher Education Act by selectively enforcing its sexual misconduct and underage drinking policies. Casey said that although Klein admitted to drinking excessively the night of the incident -- in violation of Brown's underage drinking policy -- the university took no action against her. He added that the case will not necessarily go to trial. "Whether or not this case is settled out-of-court is in the hands of the university," he said. "It could be settled tomorrow if both Sara Klein and the university admit to the charges, in which case Adam will not demand a penny.

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