A former Fresno State student has filed a civil lawsuit against a Fresno State fraternity and two of its members alleging she was raped around Jan. 31, 2020.
The Collegian initially reported about the incident in March 2020 after the former student posted a YouTube video discussing the first incident that occurred at a party at the Kappa Sigma Fraternity house.
The plaintiff, who is being referred to as Jane Doe, filed a civil court lawsuit on Jan. 28, 2022, against the Kappa Sigma fraternity at Fresno State and two males present at the party.
The lawsuit accuses the defendants of sexual assault, sexual battery, false imprisonment, battery, negligence and intentional infliction of emotional distress. It seeks punitive damages and financial compensation from them.
“[Jane Doe] suffered and will continue pecuniary losses, emotional pain, suffering, inconvenience, loss of enjoyment of life and other non-pecuniary losses,” the lawsuit states.
The lawsuit states that the plaintiff, a 17-year-old at the time, attended a party at the Kappa Sigma fraternity house with a sorority sister in which she was allowed entry through the back door.
At the party, the defendants encouraged the plaintiff to drink out of a “specific bottle” and 30 minutes later the plaintiff was nearly unconscious, according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit then states that one of the defendants pulled the plaintiff into a room, locked the door and raped her. It notes that the plaintiff tried to push off the defendant and tell the defendant to stop but fell unconscious.
The sorority sister started “frantically” looking for Jane Doe after not being able to find her, the lawsuit states.
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff regained consciousness when she was outside of the fraternity house, and screamed, “I’ve been raped, I want to go home.”
Around Feb. 1, 2020, the plaintiff heard that the drinks at the party were spiked with drugs and that many others at the party were also drugged, the lawsuit states.
The plaintiff states in her lawsuit that other students then pressured her to not report the defendants.
The lawsuit states that around March 12, 2020, Jane Doe requested a Title IX hearing regarding one of the individual defendants.
Around Aug. 3, 2020, the hearing was held and Fresno State suspended the individual for “sexually assaulting and battering [the] plaintiff,” according to the lawsuit.
On March 5, 2020, Fresno State administration suspended the Kappa Sigma fraternity deciding that there was sufficient evidence of underage drinking of alcohol. The suspension expired on Dec. 30, 2020.
The fraternity was not allowed to have alcohol on the premises until May 31, 2021.
Jane Doe’s lead attorney on the case, Matt Finkelberg, offered a brief statement in support of sexual assault survivors. He said he took “great pride” in representing his client, but was saddened by the fact that he can’t help further than monetary compensation.
“We can’t go back in time to prevent this from happening,” Finkelberg said.
“Survivors don’t need to be silenced.”
Written by Jannah Geraldo and Manuel Hernandez.
