UPDATED: Jan. 19, 2018 at 3:02 a.m.

A former Syracuse University student is suing the university, claiming he was suspended from SU for a sexual assault he did not commit.

John Noakes was suspended from the university for allegedly sexually assaulting a female SU student, who is referred to as Jane Roe in court documents, in late October 2015.

In a federal civil rights lawsuit against SU filed on Jan. 8, Noakes, a black man, claims Roe, a white woman, misidentified him as her assailant months after the incident occurred in an alley near Marshall Street.

In the lawsuit, Noakes argues he was suspended indefinitely from SU based solely on allegation, and that the investigation did not start until after he was suspended. He also argues that Roe’s identification of Noakes as her assailant is unreliable because she had been drinking on the night of the incident. Noakes was also noted in the lawsuit to have been drinking heavily that night.

The lawsuit, filed by Catherine Josh of Rochester, states the “erroneous outcomes … were the direct result of a flawed and biased proceeding.” The plaintiff also argues Noakes was presumed guilty by SU from the beginning and that the university’s hearing process favors the victim.

An SU spokesperson said the university cannot comment on the specifics of any pending litigation.

“Syracuse University takes every alleged incident of sexual violence extremely seriously,” the spokesperson said. “The University’s process to adjudicate sexual assault allegations is fully guided by federal and state law.”

The January lawsuit is the second filed against the university in recent months claiming SU discriminated against men during investigations into sexual assault. In 2017, a former SU student sued the university, claiming he was unfairly expelled for sexual assault in part because of gender bias during the investigation.

The incident described in the most recent lawsuit

In the early morning of Oct. 25, 2015, Roe had been drinking at the former location of the Orange Crate Brewing Co., on South Crouse Avenue. At the bar, she observed a black man, who she alleged was staring at her.

She left the bar at about 1 a.m., when she alleged the same man pulled her into an alley, grabbed her and tried to kiss her. She alleged the man then put his hand down her pants and forcibly touched her. Another woman who was passing by grabbed Roe by the arm and pulled her away from the man.

After the incident, the Syracuse Police Department was unable to find or identify the man who assaulted Roe.

On Jan. 24, 2016, Roe contacted the police because she saw “an unknown black male” at a Syracuse bar who looked like the person who assaulted her.

As Roe approached the man, he quickly left the bar. She asked two men he was with for his name, and they identified him as Noakes, who was a graduate assistant for the Syracuse University football team at the time. She then notified police that she had seen the suspect again.

Soon after that, Roe was shown photos of potential suspects in which she identified Noakes as her assailant. Roe chose not to press criminal charges and rather have the process go through SU’s Title IX office.

Noakes received a letter from the Office of Student Rights and Responsibilities informing him of his suspension a few days before the investigation began. At the end of the investigation in late May 2016, the University Conduct Board found Noakes guilty.

CORRECTION: In a previous version of this post, the timing of the incident described in the lawsuit filed on Jan. 8 was misstated. The incident described occurred in the early morning of Oct. 25, 2015. The Daily Orange regrets this error.

Published on January 18, 2018 at 1:10 pm

Contact Sara: smswann@syr.edu | @saramswann