A federal court of appeals has partially reinstated a sexual-harassment lawsuit brought by a former female student at the University of Georgia who accused several former men’s basketball players of raping her in 2002.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 11th Circuit ruled on Friday that the former female student, Tiffany Williams, may sue the university and its president, Michael F. Adams, as well as other former employees, for sex discrimination under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, the law banning sex discrimination at educational institutions that receive federal funds.
Ms. Williams’s complaint says that Mr. Adams and two former athletics officials knew of past disciplinary and criminal problems involving one of the athletes who allegedly raped her. The lawsuit, as well as a highly publicized case of academic corruption on Georgia’s men’s basketball team, led the program to prematurely end its season in 2003.
