Attorneys involved in litigation over Louisiana State University’s sexual harassment reporting policies have called LSU’s general counsel callous and insensitive for remarks made before a state Senate hearing last month.
New Orleans attorney Mildred Methvin and eight other attorneys who represent plaintiffs in Title IX lawsuits against LSU said in their Nov. 22 letter that remarks by Winston DeCuir Jr. have compounded the trauma suffered by LSU students and workers who attempted to report harassment or rape.
During a Nov. 15 Senate Select Committee on Women and Children hearing, DeCuir said, “When you do an investigation like we did, and you make it public, invariably lawyers and other folks are going to take advantage of it and try to file lawsuits.”
The plaintiffs’ attorneys viewed the statement as an affront to those who reported Title IX violations at LSU and were ignored or disbelieved, even as sexual predators went unpunished, according to the Nov. 22 letter.
“Blaming LSU’s rape culture on victims’ lawyers is not only absurd, but also callously insensitive to these women who experienced rape, assault, harassment, retaliation and pervasive hostility for reporting Title IX violations,” the letter says. “The Husch Blackwell Report – the ‘investigation’ to which Mr. DeCuir was referring – documented LSU’s failure to create and support a working Title IX system, a failure which enabled predators to act with impunity. …”
A response sent to Methvin by the Senate panel’s chairwoman, Regina Barrow (D-Baton Rouge), did not mention DeCuir, and an LSU spokesman declined to comment on the attorneys’ letter.
But Barrow did say she is committed to fostering policies on college campuses that create a culture opposing violence, protecting students from harassment or assault, and taking reports of harassment or assault seriously.
On the issue of how to ensure that LSU’s Title IX program is transparent and effective, Methvin told the Louisiana Record that, “While we applaud the legislative initiatives made so far, we believe there is still room for improvement and are actively exploring this issue.”
Data on sexual assaults on campus indicates that reporting policies remain inadequate, according to Methvin.
“The recent statistics showing extremely low numbers of campus rape reports are testament to the fact that women do not trust our public universities to treat them fairly,” she said.