Judge reinstates gang-rape lawsuit against CU

Published September 7, 2007 at midnight

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Lisa Simpson cried Thursday when she learned an appeals court revived her lawsuit claiming she and another co-ed were gang-raped at a University of Colorado football recruiting party.

Simpson got the news from her attorney and then called her mother, Karen Burd, of Alt.

"She was really excited and she started crying," Burd recalled. "She said, 'Mom, can you believe it?' I said this is what we have been praying for."

Burd called the news an "early birthday present" for her daughter, who turns 26 next week.

CU President Hank Brown said he was "surprised" and "disappointed" when he got the news.

"I haven't had a chance to digest it but it looks like (the court) is rewriting the law," he said.

Brown said the university can appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, appeal to the entire 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals or go to trial.

"Obviously, we're in the process of trying to think this through," he said.

Brown said it's a "shame" that the suit has been revived because, "We're such a different university than we were two years ago."

"Everyone in the top positions have changed. There's not a vice president, a chancellor, a coach from that era," said Brown, who became president after the lawsuit was filed.

The women's lawsuit alleges CU violated federal law by fostering an environment that allowed sexual assaults to occur. A U.S. district judge dismissed it in 2005, saying the women failed to show evidence of deliberate indifference.

The ruling Thursday by the court of appeals said there is evidence the university had an official policy of showing high school recruits a "good time" and that it showed a "deliberate indifference" to any known sexual harassment.

In a written statement, CU said: "The university does not have a policy that would place any of its female students at risk of assault; in fact, it has stringent policies prohibiting sexual harassment and sexual assault."

CU also said it has become a leader in policies and practices to prevent sexual assault and harassment.

The women said they were raped at an off-campus party for football players and recruits in 2001. No one was criminally charged with sexual assault, but the lawsuit sparked a scandal over CU's football recruiting practices that led to broad reforms and a shake-up of the university's top leaders.

Simpson enrolled at CU in the fall of 2000, but left sometime after the lawsuit was filed. She graduated from the University of Denver last fall with a degree in accounting and finance.

Simpson, who now lives in Denver, has agreed to have her name publicly used. The other woman who filed suit has not.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

bartels@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5327

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