UNC's attempt to dismiss sexual assault case fails

On Tuesday, the N.C. Court of Appeals refused UNC’s attempt to have a sexual assault lawsuit dismissed. Now the University is deciding whether to appeal the decision to the N.C. Supreme Court.

Former UNC student Jillian Murray sued the University in August 2014 for mishandling her sexual assault case. She said that she was unable to finish her spring semester due to trauma.

The N.C. Court of Appeals voted in a 2-1 decision to allow Murray to continue her suit against UNC because the court did not have jurisdiction over the University’s appeal.

“Although defendant also argues that this case is moot, defendant has not made any argument that this Court has jurisdiction over that issue in the absence of a proper appeal of the sovereign immunity issue. We, therefore, dismiss the appeal,” Judge Martha Geer wrote in the opinion.

Judge John Tyson’s dissenting opinion said that he wanted to review the appeal on its merits.

Since UNC’s appeal was dismissed, the University now has to decide whether it wants to continue with the suit or appeal this decision to the N.C. Supreme Court.

“We are reviewing the Court of Appeals’ opinion and evaluating our options for moving forward. No decision has been made on whether we will appeal to the N.C. Supreme Court,” said UNC spokesperson Jim Gregory in an email.

Murray’s lawyer, Henry Clay Turner, did not respond to a request for comment.

Murray’s suit stated that three days after a classmate sexually assaulted her in January 2013, she emailed Dean Blackburn, the associate dean of students, who took 20 days to respond. He then referred her to Desirée Rieckenberg, senior associate dean of students, who failed to inform Murray of her rights under the Sexual Misconduct Policy, according to the lawsuit.

In March 2014, the suit said, two Title IX investigators examined her case, and in May, they made a report stating there was enough cause to proceed to a grievance procedure.

According to the lawsuit, Turner was not allowed to participate in the hearing scheduled by the University and was not allowed to question the accused student, which the suit said violated state law.

“Full participation of a lawyer, if it means anything, it means lawyers are allowed to do lawyer stuff. The quintessential lawyer stuff means questioning the opposing party,” Turner said in an interview with The Daily Tar Heel in September 2014.

In September, the University tried to dismiss Murray’s suit because of “mootness, lack of standing, lack of subject matter jurisdiction and failure to state a claim upon which relief may be granted.”

The University argued that it has sovereign immunity over the case, which means it has the jurisdiction to decide the case while other parties do not. Geer rejected this argument in the court’s opinion.

Murray’s case fell under UNC’s old sexual assault policy, which changed in August 2014 — about a week after she filed the lawsuit. The new policy aimed to clarify how students can report sexual assault and how cases will be adjudicated.

university@dailytarheel.com