EAST LANSING, Mich. — Four Michigan State University students have filed a federal civil rights lawsuit accusing the school and its leaders of a slow and inadequate response to their sexual assault complaints.
In the suit filed Wednesday, the women say school administrators acted with “deliberate indifference” to their claims. The suit seeks unspecified monetary damages from the university board of trustees, President Lou Ann Simon and others.
Two plaintiffs, Emily Kollaritsch and Shayna Gross, attended a news conference near campus to announce the suit. They say they were assaulted by the same male student.
The Associated Press generally doesn’t identify alleged victims of sexual assault, but Kollaritsch and Gross spoke publicly.
A Michigan State spokesman says it doesn’t comment on pending litigation, but sexual misconduct is something university leaders “take very seriously.”
