{"id":132908,"date":"2023-08-23T10:40:49","date_gmt":"2023-08-23T14:40:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=132908"},"modified":"2023-08-23T10:40:49","modified_gmt":"2023-08-23T14:40:49","slug":"expelled-grad-student-wins-3-95-million-verdict-against-pacific-university","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/expelled-grad-student-wins-3-95-million-verdict-against-pacific-university\/","title":{"rendered":"Expelled grad student wins $3.95 million verdict against Pacific University"},"content":{"rendered":"

Psychology grad student dismissed by university wins jury award<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

A former psychology graduate student won a $3.95 million verdict against Pacific University after it dismissed him from school following sexual assault allegations<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The Washington County jury awarded<\/a> Peter Steele the amount after it \u201cfound that Pacific had not acted in a fair and reasonable way toward Steele and had intentionally caused him emotional distress.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe jury sided with Pacific on other counts, however, finding that the school did not violate Title IX, the landmark gender discrimination law, in its dealings with Steele and that it had not breached its contract with Steele,\u201d The Oregonian<\/em> reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The newspaper reported:<\/p>\n

Peter Steele, who enrolled in Pacific\u2019s doctorate in psychology program in 2016, was suspended by the school in 2020 after a female student told school officials that he sexually and physically assaulted her. Steele maintains that his relationship with the woman was consensual and he did not assault her.<\/p>\n

Steele and the woman settled competing claims against each other before Steele\u2019s case against Pacific went to trial, Steele\u2019s lawyer Kevin Sali said. The terms of that settlement are confidential, Sali said.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\u201cMy sincere hope is that Pacific\u2019s leadership takes a hard, searching look at what happened in this case so it can do what is necessary to ensure that it never happens again,\u201d Sali told the media.<\/p>\n

The university is considering an appeal, according to spokesman Blake Timm. \u201cAt every step in this situation, we followed our policies and procedures and we did not discriminate on any basis,\u201d he told the media.<\/p>\n

Brooklyn College Professor KC Johnson, who wrote<\/a> a book about the Duke University lacrosse rape case, noted the uniqueness of the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cJury ironically found against student on [Title IX count],\u201d Professor Johnson wrote.
\nSteele was a doctoral student at Pacific in 2020, according to his profile on the Oregon Psychological Association website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cResearch interests\u201d included \u201cdiversity considerations; graduate psychology teaching and training; the gamification of psychological principles and clinical interventions; clinical supervision; and psychological assessment, scale development, and validation,\u201d according to the website.<\/p>\n

MORE:<\/strong> Jury awards six figures to accused Boston College student<\/a><\/p>\n

IMAGE: Everything possible\/Shutterstock.com<\/p>\n

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