A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit issued by a former University of Maryland – Baltimore County (UMBC) female swimmer who claimed the school did nothing to protect her from sexual abuse.
U.S. District Judge Julie R. Rubin ordered that the lawsuit be dismissed in April, according to The Baltimore Sun, ruling that it was filed after the three-year statute of limitations had expired.
The lawsuit, filed in September, alleged that the university failed to help the woman after she reported sexual assault and harassment to late UMBC coach Chad Cradock in March 2018. It claimed that the school “demanded” her to conceal the abuse after she first reported it to Cradock.
The woman joined UMBC as a freshman in 2017 and began a romantic relationship with a male swimmer on the team that “quickly became violent.” The complaint outlined repeated sexual assaults, stalking, and sending countless text and social media messages, and other harassment that persisted even after the couple’s relationship ended. In one incident, the plaintiff says her ex-boyfriend chased her on the campus, grabbed her, and shook her.
The woman was explicitly told by Cradock not to report the abuse to UMBC’s Title IX coordinator, telling her that “things would get worse” for her if she did, the lawsuit said, adding that he also surprised her by bringing her into his office for a surprise meeting with her abuser.
Cradock ultimately reported the abuse to the Title IX coordinator in June 2018 after another student called UMBC Police to report that the male swimmer was a danger to himself or others.
The lawsuit says UMBC failed to inform the woman of her ability to report the sexual abuse to Baltimore County Policy, as the school is required to do so by policy.
The woman’s attorney argued in court filings that she had no way of knowing that the then-Title IX Coordinator took no action after receiving Cradock’s report of the abuse until she read a draft of UMBC’s report on Cradock’s behavior in May 2022
An outside law firm found that Cradock engaged in sexual harassment and created a hostile environment during his time as coach, violating the university’s discrimination policy. He resigned in 2020 and died by suicide in 2021.
A report on the law firm’s findings specifically mentions Cradock’s handling of the complaints made by the female swimmers whose lawsuit was recently dismissed.
UMBC is also being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice for its response to complaints of sexual harassment and its Title IX compliance. The civil rights probe began in 2020, and remains ongoing according to a UMBC spokesperson.
Men, women, and the transgender community’s voices should be heard when reporting sexual misconduct.
Typo: Baltimore County Policy should be Baltimore County Police.
Appeallllllllll