The lawsuit states it is “arising out of alleged willful indifference of UNM in the manner in which it responded, or failed to respond, to her report of a gang rape on and near campus committed by UNM football players.”
Crusoe Gongbay and SaQwan Edwards, who were UNM football players at the time, as well as CNM student Ryan Ruff were arrested on charges of rape, which was alleged to have occurred in Ruff’s BMW. The charges against the three were dropped on Aug. 12.
The plaintiff has alleged that she was slipped a date rape drug late on the night of April 12, 2014, lost consciousness and suffered memory loss of nearly four hours.
According to the lawsuit, the men took video of the incident and posted it on the internet and the app Snapchat.
The lawsuit states that the plaintiff has no memory of performing the actions recorded in the videos, nor of being recorded that night. The lawsuit also criticizes the Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner’s office and UNMPD for not completing a date rape drug panel when the plaintiff filed the assault report.
According to the lawsuit “UNM administrators, including the Office of Equal Opportunity (“OEO”) and the Athletic (sic) Department, interfered with the police investigation of these rapes. UNM administrators demonstrated more concern with returning its football players to team play, protecting the athletic department, and protecting males.”
Under Title IX, members of the Athletics Department were required to immediately report the allegations to UNM’s Title IX Coordinator. The lawsuit states that no such report was made.
According to the lawsuit, “the manner in which UNM administrators, including OEO, responded to the plaintiff’s report demonstrates deliberate indifference, and willful decisions and acts to not end sexual harassment under Title IX.”
As a result of the incident, the plaintiff lost her academic scholarship, was forced to move away to attend college out-of-state and is in “extensive therapy related to Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder,” according to the lawsuit.
The lawsuit states that “the male perpetrators were not disciplined under any UNM code of conduct, even for disseminating the un-consented secret video around the internet, and (they) remain students and athletes.”
In a press release UNM stated it received a letter on Jan. 20 from the plaintiff’s attorney, Brad Hall, giving the University a notice of claim and her intent to file a lawsuit. However, UNM has not been served the lawsuit yet.
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“UNM takes sexual violence allegations very seriously,” the press release stated. “The University’s primary concern is the safety and well-being of its students, as well as ensuring that there are fair processes in place for all involved.”
According to the lawsuit, on the night of the alleged rape another UNM football player took the plaintiff from a dorm room to an off-campus house party, where Gongbay, Edwards and Ruff picked her up.
Gongbay, Edwards and Ruff then took the plaintiff into Ruff’s BMW. The men said they were going to another party, but instead raped the plaintiff in the vehicle, the lawsuit states. She was eventually dropped off outside the dorms on campus, and then made her way to a security guard, who called UNMPD, according to the lawsuit.
George Bleus, the attorney for the three men, revealed in a press conference on June 24, 2014 that there were at least 12 videos that documented events of that night. Bleus released only three of those, stating that the rest contained vulgar material.
The lawsuit claims that one of the videos showed the three men chanting “Slutty Boys” while the text “SLUTTYBOY GANGBANG COMIN SOON” scrolled across the screen.
The Athletics Department was notified the day after the incident that Gongbay, and possibly other football players, was involved in a group sexual assault early that morning, the lawsuit states. The lawsuit refers to a witness statement that alleges that head coach Bob Davie met with Gongbay to talk “about the ‘drunk girl situation last night’” before Gongbay spoke to UNMPD.
The lawsuit lists a multitude of ways in which the plaintiff believes UNM did not comply with Title IX, including not protecting the plaintiff from the ongoing effects of the assaults and its delay in opening a Title IX investigation.
According to the lawsuit, the plaintiff believes the criminal charges were dropped against Gongbay and Edward due, in part, to pressure lodged by the UNM Athletics Department, or proxies, and by intentional interference and failure to cooperate by the UNM Athletics Department with UNMPD.
The lawsuit further alleges that the OEO did not hold a hearing under Title IX regulations, which would have permitted plaintiff to present and explain evidence. The plaintiff requested a hearing but was not given one.
The lawsuit also states that the OEO’s Final Letter of Determination was “untimely and premature and was the result of an investigation which was not thorough.”
Gongbay was suspended from the football team after he turned himself in on April 21. A week later, Edwards found himself suspended from the team as well.
June 26 the district attorney put the charges on hold against the three men because witnesses had testimony that cast doubt on what happened the night of the alleged rape.
The DA officially dropped the rape charges against Gongbay, Edwards and Ruff on Aug. 12.
In December, Bleus said Gongbay, Edwards and Ruff planned to file a lawsuit against UNM and UNMPD, citing how the University’s investigation was botched from the beginning. That lawsuit has not yet been filed.
Thomas Romero-Salas is the sports editor for the Daily Lobo. He can be reached at sports@dailylobo.com or on Twitter @ThomasRomeroS.
