After 6 days of testimony, it took a federal court jury of 2 men and 6 women only 6 hours to unanimously find that Chadron State College failed in its responsibility to support a female student raped by another student on campus in 2016.
The jury awarded the woman, an international student from Africa $300,000. Chadron State says in a statement that it appreciates the jury’s hard work but disagrees with the verdict and will appeal.
Attorney Maren Chaloupka of Scottsbluff represented the woman, identified only as Jane Doe, and told Nebraska Public Media that her client was overwhelmed with joy and gratitude toward the jury because it meant she’s finally been heard and respected.
After the attack on Doe, actually the second by the same fellow international student, the college imposed sanctions on him that included no contact, but Doe said she still encountered on campus
Chaloupka says it essentially fell to Doe to uphold the ban and blasts Chadron State as “if anything accommodating sexual perpetrators” forcing rape victims to “make their own choices about whether they wanted to spend time on campus.
Chaloupka hopes the college learns some lessons from the verdict and listens to victims in the future because “if they have to pay $300,000 every time they tell a rape victim she’s going to have to fend for herself…that’s going to add up over time.”