May 25, 2021: An update on a judge’s recent ruling and an appeal has been added to the end of this story.
A former WSU student has filed a federal lawsuit against the university for allegedly failing to act on warnings about a WSU Vancouver student’s history of sexual misconduct, allowing him to transfer to Pullman where he raped her in 2017.
The plaintiff, who graduated from WSU in 2019, filed the civil rights lawsuit late last month, alleging the university had direct knowledge of multiple complaints against Vancouver student Thomas Culhane for sexual harassment, groping and stalking prior to his transfer in August 2017. Culhane was later convicted of raping the plaintiff.
“Upon learning of Culhane’s predatory behavior, [WSU] failed to meaningfully intervene and protect its female students,” the lawsuit alleges. “As a result, Culhane was given unfettered access to a new and larger pool of victims.”
Records show a previous victim told WSU investigators in June 2017 — about two months before Culhane’s transfer — that she feared for the safety of others if he moved to Pullman.
“WSU blatantly and recklessly ignored this warning,” the lawsuit alleges. “Three weeks after Culhane was allowed to transfer to the Pullman campus, he raped plaintiff.”
In March 2019, a local jury found Culhane guilty of second-degree rape. A legal issue later resulted in Culhane pleading guilty to assault charges with intent to commit rape. He was sentenced to nine months in the Whitman County Jail and has since been released.
Attorneys representing WSU filed an answer to the lawsuit on March 11 confirming a previous conduct investigation against Culhane, but denying any fault in the matter. The answer also disputed allegations the university had received multiple previous complaints against Culhane.
“[WSU] denies any allegations or inferences of wrongdoing, liability, or illegality and denies that Plaintiff is entitled to any judgment, order, award, or other relief whatsoever,” the answer states. “[A]ny injuries/damages to plaintiff were caused by intentional conduct of Thomas Culhane. The damages caused by the intentional conduct must be segregated from injuries/damages allegedly caused by fault.”
WSU spokesman Phil Weiler confirmed via email the university knows about the lawsuit, but he declined to comment on a pending legal matter.
The plaintiff’s identity is a matter of public record in court filings. Whitman County Watch has omitted her name in accordance with common journalism practices intended to protect the privacy of sexual assault victims.
The plaintiff’s attorney, Meaghan Driscoll, provided records that show WSU officials had previously concluded Culhane repeatedly groped a female student between her legs while he was intoxicated on a university-sponsored trip off campus in late 2016. WSU later placed him on disciplinary probation for sexual misconduct and other violations, but did not impose any supervision or block his transfer.
The victim in that previous case told WSU investigators that Culhane had continued to approach her at school events. Records show she told WSU investigators in about June 2017 that his transfer “doesn’t fix the problem.”
“Great for me, but I don’t know how great it is for others,” she stated according to a transcript. “He’s moving to another campus, where there are dorms, more access to alcohol, … it’s concerning to me.”
The lawsuit also cites other unspecified reports Culhane had engaged in sexual harassment and stalking against “many” female students going back to April 2016. Attorneys accused the university of trying to “move the problem.”
In an email, Driscoll described the university’s conduct as “disturbing” because officials had knowledge of previous complaints and a credible victim had voiced concerns about his continued behavior.
“So this is a case where WSU deliberately transferred a known sexual perpetrator to the Pullman campus,” she wrote, “despite knowing his history of sexual misconduct and direct warnings he would re-offend.”
Universities across the country have faced increased scrutiny in recent years over their obligations to act on student safety warnings or protect students from harm. The McCluskey family, of Pullman, filed a $56 million lawsuit against the University of Utah last summer after their daughter, Lauren, was murdered in 2018 despite multiple attempts to alert authorities to her killer’s threatening behavior.
The family has since established the Lauren McCluskey Foundation to promote campus safety efforts.
In the new lawsuit against WSU, attorneys for the plaintiff argue the attack and legal case overshadowed her entire time in college as she regularly met with law enforcement, attorneys, victim’s advocates and counselors.
“She missed classes and fell behind in schoolwork,” the lawsuit states, “due to hearings along with the general stress and anxiety caused by the sexual assault.”
The lawsuit alleges WSU breached its duty to protect its students from “reasonably foreseeable dangers,” provide a safe learning environment and properly train staff to identify risks. Attorneys accused the university of failing to enforce its own policies regarding student safety.
“As a direct and proximate result of Defendant WSU’s actions and failure to act, as set forth above and in other respects,” the lawsuit states, “Plaintiff suffered emotional distress, anguish, humiliation and other general and special damages that will be proven with specificity at the time of trial.”
Preliminary court hearings are currently scheduled for this summer.
Update, May 25, 2021:
A federal judge ruled in favor of Washington State University last week, dismissing a lawsuit from a former student who accused the university of failing to act on warnings about another student who raped her in 2017. Attorneys representing the victim have filed an appeal to the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle issued a decision on May 21 that WSU was not liable for the off-campus rape and had not created new danger by allowing Culhane’s transfer to Pullman despite his previous sexual misconduct. Settle also concluded the victim had not proven WSU had discriminated against her.
“The University did not affirmatively create a new risk within its system by processing his transfer; Culhane was arguably a known risk to the University at the point of transfer,” the judge’s decision states. “Culhane remained a danger whether he was at the Vancouver campus or the Pullman campus. The Court therefore agrees with the University that processing Culhane’s transfer request was not an affirmative act.”
Meaghan Driscoll, one of the woman’s attorneys, wrote in an email Monday that they believe the facts clearly establish WSU’s duty and subsequent failure to protect their client. She wrote they expect the Ninth Circuit will “correct this error and grave injustice.”
“WSU should be held accountable for its actions in allowing a known sexual predator to prey upon and rape a WSU student,” Driscoll wrote. “Instead of appropriately disciplining or expelling the predator, WSU instead let him transfer at his own request from the Vancouver campus to Pullman, where he raped Plaintiff the day before classes began for fall quarter.”
The official notice of appeal was filed Monday.
Correction: This story previously misspelled Phil Weiler’s name.