In its response to a lawsuit brought against the University by former Yale basketball team captain Jack Montague, Yale has released more details regarding Montague’s expulsion on charges of sexual misconduct.
Montague filed his initial suit against the University in federal court in June 2016, claiming among other charges that his expulsion four months prior represented a breach of contract and violation of his Title IX rights, and followed that up in September with a request for a preliminary injunction requesting Yale reinstate Montague so he can earn his degree.
Yale subsequently filed a memorandum of opposition to Montague’s request, claiming that the anonymous female sexual assault victim — referred to in court documents as Jane Roe — had clearly stated at the time of the incident that she did not wish to engage in intercourse with Montague. As Yale filed its opposition to Montague’s request, further details about the reasons for Montague’s expulsion have surfaced.
In the initial proceedings that took place in the University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct, Roe claims Montague did not hear her when she tried to end their October 2014 sexual encounter. However, the memorandum, filed on Jan. 11, also states that Roe told Montague “‘Jack, no, I said I wanted to hook up, but not have sex,’ but he penetrated Ms. Roe over her objection. When the plaintiff was finished, he said to Ms. Roe, ‘I’m really sorry. I know you didn’t want that.’”
Yale argues the University panel that received the initial complaint from Roe did not believe Montague’s rendition of the encounter due to Montague’s “selective memory and his shifting recollection with respect to how he obtained consent.”
Yale spokesman Tom Conroy did not respond to comment this week.
Montague’s current request for an injunction casts his return to the school as a kind of relief compensation, shifting emphasis away from punitive damages he received from the expulsion.
“Jack is asking for immediate reinstatement as a student at Yale,” said Karen Schwartzman of Polaris Public Relations, who represents Montague and his lawyer, Max Stern. “He believes his expulsion from Yale was both unfair and unwarranted and that it has caused him irreparable harm.”
In the five years since the creation of the UWC, a total of six students have been expelled for sexual misconduct. In the memorandum, the University said each student has gone on to find full-time employment, continued their education elsewhere, or both — the opposite of what Montague claimed in his original lawsuit, which alleged that his education and career prospects were permanently damaged by his expulsion.
According to Montague’s request, an injunction would allow for the two involved parties — Montague and Roe — to have the “peaceable uncontested status” that existed between them “before the dispute developed.”
The New Haven Police Department said Montague does not currently face criminal charges, despite having two previous unrelated offenses on his Yale disciplinary record. According to the court filing, both previous incidents involved alcohol. Yale states that one of these incidents involved aggression with a University police officer and the other involved forcing a paper plate down the front of a woman’s blouse. Both of these resulted in University discipline.
U.S. District Judge Alfred Covello has not issued a ruling on Montague’s request for an injunction. The lawsuit is scheduled to go to trial in February 2018.