Florida State may be saying goodbye to Jameis Winston, the player, but Winston, the off-field baggage, will continue to linger at least a little while longer.
Not so unexpectedly, the Orlando Sentinel is reporting that the woman who accused the FSU quarterback of raping her in December of 2012 has filed a federal lawsuit against the university’s trustees. The paper writes that “Winston’s accuser demanded a trial by jury and in damages from Florida State University for Title IX violations of a ‘clearly unreasonable response’ and allowing a ‘hostile educational environment,’ according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Orlando Wednesday.”
Winston was never charged criminally in connection to the allegations of sexual assault. The lawsuit also comes nearly three weeks after Winston was cleared in the school code of conduct hearing, which was also connected to the rape allegations.
In April of last year, attorney’s for the accuser blasted the university for either delaying or outright terminating a Title IX investigation into the allegations. Five months later, it was reported that the university had reopened the investigation.
Winston’s adviser subsequently released a scathing statement claiming that the accuser was the one dragging her feet when it came to the federally-mandated investigation. That adviser, David Cornwell, also accused the alleged victim’s camp of seeking $7 million from Winston to keep quiet.
Also in April of last year, it was reported that the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights has launched its own investigation into FSU’s handling of the case.