Ken Yanagisawa

New documents filed in U.S. District Court over the course of the last week indicate that a settlement is not likely in the lawsuit former men’s basketball captain Jack Montague filed against Yale in June.

The documents, filed by attorneys for both the University and Montague, detail a planning meeting between representatives for both sides. They state that both parties have “considered the desirability” of trying to reach an early settlement of the case, but that at this time “settlement is unlikely.” Neither side is requesting an early settlement conference.

Barring a settlement, the document projects that the pretrial discovery phase will be completed by Dec. 30, 2017.

A scheduling order entered on Sept. 13 and signed by presiding judge Alfred Covello indicates that dispositive motions — propositions asking a judge to dismiss all or part of a claim without further trial court proceedings — are due by Dec. 31, 2017. Trial briefs are due by Jan. 31, 2018, and the trial ready date is the first day of February 2018.

Yale has still not filed an official response to Montague’s original complaint, which alleges that the University unfairly expelled him for sexual misconduct, although University spokesman Tom Conroy called the lawsuit “factually inaccurate and legally baseless” when it was filed June 9. The University has petitioned for two extensions since then, and its current deadline for a response is Sept. 17.

In the new documents, the defendants — the University, Deputy Title IX Coordinator Angela Gleason and Senior Deputy Title IX Coordinator Jason Killheffer — deny all the plaintiff’s claims and maintain that they “did not discriminate against the plaintiff” and “properly followed all of the University’s procedures in addressing the complaints made against plaintiff and in disciplining plaintiff.”

The two sides are currently at an impasse over the manner in which expert witnesses will be deposed, the documents reveal. Montague’s attorneys want both sides to present their witnesses simultaneously, with a second round for rebuttal witnesses. But Yale does not want rebuttal witnesses and is requesting that the plaintiffs disclose and depose their witnesses before the University does the same.

“Since defendants will have no way of knowing what type of expert they need in order to rebut the experts being disclosed by plaintiff … they may end up both disclosing experts in an area where none is needed and failing to list experts in an area which is needed,” read the documents filed by Yale.

Both Conroy and Karen Schwartzman of Polaris Public Relations, which represents Montague and his attorney Max Stern, declined to comment on the pending litigation.

Montague filed the lawsuit after being expelled in February for violating the school’s sexual misconduct policies. The suit claims the University’s treatment of Montague was “wrong, unfairly determined, arbitrary and excessive by any rational measure,” and accuses the school of breach of contract, Title IX violations, breach of confidentiality and defamation.

Judge Covello sits in the Connecticut branch of the U.S. District Court in Hartford.

DANIELA BRIGHENTI
MAYA SWEEDLER