November 26, 2008

Duke U. Sues Insurer Over Payment for Legal Costs Stemming From Lacrosse Case

Duke University sued one of its insurers this week for not paying legal fees and settlement costs related to the notorious lacrosse case that drew national attention two years ago, The Herald Sun, a newspaper in Durham, N.C., reported today.

Duke filed suit on Monday against National Union Fire Insurance, a subsidiary of the American International Group. According to The Herald Sun, the insurer has refused to reimburse Duke for legal bills of $11-million because it believes the university’s policy is capped at $5-million.

The newspaper also reported — and a source close to the case confirmed — that National Union and Duke’s other insurer, United Educators Insurance, are “bickering over which company — if not both — has the responsibility to pay.” This week’s lawsuit, which seeks unspecified damages, seeks to break that deadlock.

“Duke believes its insurance companies should meet their obligations,” Michael Schoenfeld, Duke’s vice president for public affairs and government relations, told The Herald Sun.

The university’s expenses stem from a legal fiasco in which three lacrosse players were accused of assaulting a woman hired as a stripper. They were initially charged with felony rape and other crimes by the local district attorney, but ultimately declared innocent by the state’s attorney general. The local D.A. was later disbarred.

Duke reached a settlement — to avoid possible litigation — with the three students named in the case, and it paid to settle other lawsuits, including one filed by a lacrosse player who alleged grade discrimination by one of his professors. In February, 38 current and former lacrosse players and nine parents sued the university, arguing that it had breached special duties of care it owed to the students. That case is pending. —Sara Lipka

Comments

1. I’m surprised the insurer is willing to pay anything. If I burn down my house, my homeowners insurance will not pay me for it. For the most part Duke operated in bad faith.

   — MikeZ    Nov 27, 12:31 AM    #

2. The current lawsuit by the lacrosse players is not based on Duke’s “special duty of care”. Rather, it is base on Duke’s active participation in the attemp to frame these boys as part ofthe rape hoax.

   — David Cathcart    Nov 27, 07:11 AM    #

3. That case was “Scottsboro II”, and the role played by Duke’s Administration and faculty are not something to be proud of.
   Besides being sued, they are going to be remembered now as an example of assisting bigotry and mob judgment.

   — Chavez    Nov 27, 07:55 AM    #

4. The real issues is: Why does a relatively simple case – 3 people rape someone – have to cost 11 million. I sincerely hope I never have to use the legal system in the US

   — peter stevens    Nov 27, 08:30 AM    #

5. This will cost Duke & Durham over 100 million dollars before its over! Why? because as Alleva said to Coach Pressler “It’s not about the truth anymore.” He went on, “It’s about the integrity of the university, it’s about the faculty, the city, the NAACP, the protesters, and the other interest groups.” Nice call guys!

   — wags    Nov 27, 10:39 AM    #

6. The answer: The $11 million was what Duke’s administration was willing to pay to generate a political prosecution and ideological campaign. The insurance company should tell them to intercourse themselves in toto.

   — David    Nov 28, 09:03 AM    #

7. I join everyone in hoping that Duke will have to pay out $1,000,000,000 before this PC-driven case enters case law as one of the biggest blunders by any institution. It must gladden the hearts of those Duke students paying tuition and potential donors.

   Clearly, many officials at Duke need to be more “sensitive” to the needs of students and they need to study from one end to the other the Bill of Rights. How about some manditory sensitivity training and a little “reeducation” thrown in for good measure?

   — No wonder    Nov 28, 11:37 AM    #

8. To #5 (Peter Stevens):

   Your response, indicating that you believe a rape occurred, is evidence that the lacrosse players WERE damaged.

   Several FACTS are clear:

   1. The lacrosse players did NOT rape the stripper.
   2. Political correctness run amok at Duke resulted in unfounded harm to the lacrosse players and their coach.
   3. The administration and a large part of the faculty at Duke acted without a full investigation and their actions resulted in irreparable damage to the lacrosse players.
   4. Certain non-US observers remain clueless.

   — Mike    Nov 28, 11:45 AM    #

9. Do you know why Peter Stevens had terrible trouble reading and understanding the fifth paragraph in the article? I don’t either. Maybe his understanding was totally undermined by his ardent desire to be politically correct. Or perhaps he had severe trouble reading because his lips are chapped?

   — ed    Nov 28, 02:41 PM    #

10. I am amazed that any young man would want to go to a school with such prejudiced faculty.

    — Frances    Nov 29, 07:31 PM    #

11. I am embarrassed now to admit I graduated (with two degrees) from Duke. When the dunning notices for financial contributions come from them now, I throw them in the trash. I discourage anyone, but especially white men, from attending my alma mater. I shudder to think of such a violation being done to one of my three sons.

    — Queen1    Nov 30, 05:12 PM    #

12. Let’s not forget about the 88 Duke faculty who blindly yelled “Guilty!” because the boys were white and privileged (to be entirely accurate, the terms used by the group of 88 included “secret racism”, “white male privilege loosed amongst us” (H. Baker)). Yet, these faculty have yet to admit the obvious: they promoted an undercurrent of racism that was as volatile as yelling “fire” in a crowded theater. These actions led to student protests and the posting of “wanted posters” depicting lacrosse team members by other Duke students.

    Why the Duke administration hasn’t requested that the faculty in the group of 88 submit their resignation and also ask for a letter of apology from the involved student groups is appalling. Send a child to Duke? No way! Should Duke have to pay for their mistakes? Absolutely. Should the insurance companies have to pay for Duke’s negligence… of course not, why is this even a question? Duke represents much of what is wrong with America today: not accepting responsibility for one’s behavior, racism by those that claim they are downtrodden, and the inability to genuinely apologize for one’s actions.

    — Edward    Dec 1, 10:04 AM    #

13. It is stunning that all but a handful (3, if I remember correctly) of the mob of 88 were from humanities! It seems that people in sciences posess much more decency and/or ability to exercise fairness and good judgement.

    — Mark de Goz    Dec 1, 10:59 AM    #

14. “Humanities” has become nothing more than a euphemism for “Studies in Political Correctness”.

    — formerly known as . . .    Dec 1, 11:52 AM    #

15. Duke can come up with the 11 mil easy by doing some faculty and administrator salary cuts …sort of poetic justices …ooops that’s a humanities term, sorry.

    — vinnie    Dec 1, 12:00 PM    #

16. Yes, Duke should be required to pay, and the faculty involved should be reprimanded. I would suggest, however, that the Duke faculty were not alone in their rush to judgment. Faculty on my own campus eagerly concluded that the young men in question were guilty—and I suspect that faculty on many campuses did the same thing. They just didn’t receive the publicity that the Duke faculty did.

    — James D. Williams    Dec 1, 12:15 PM    #

17. From any point of view, it is evident that mob psychology has been alive an well on both sides of this incident. Let’s hope cooler heads prevail. As for the group of 88, Edward, haven’t you ever been sucked in by rhetoric (or are you just a mob leader wannabe)? I would hope the Duke administration has identified those who were truly responsible for fanning the flames and is taking appropriate steps to see to their discipline.

    — CW    Dec 1, 12:52 PM    #

18. CW – sure the temptation to be sucked in by rhetoric is real. But, it is exactly in that kind of situation when people need to step back and take a disciplined and scientific approach to a problem. Your comments have provide a very good example of what I mean:

    1st: “mob mentality on both sides”. If you followed the case, there was no mob mentality on the side of the lacrosse team. In fact, the players were forced to either leave campus or stay in their dorm room for their own protection (from both other Duke students as well as Durham mobs). Members of the team were shunned in class, asked to leave class, and were given failing grades because of their assumed guilt (all cases settled out of court). Perhaps you believed there was a mob mentality because you assumed this to be the case. Please review the facts.

    2nd: “mob-leader wannabe”. Again – a comment that is riddled with emotion but not fact based. The group of 88 had the facts (eg DNA testing) but, still, ignored the scientific basis of the evidence because they believed that “something had to have happened”. Again, thanks for providing an example of how people are prone to ignore the facts when making conclusions.

    — Edward    Dec 1, 01:41 PM    #

19. People make these boys out to be choir boys. Did you read the email one sent out afterwards? Also the demeaning language they used towards the two coeds who they supposedly hired. And for what? It is really sad that Duke settled out of court, as I for one think they would have won in court if all of the facts had come out and the young boys and girls all had to give sworn testimony in court. But the scandal would have been too big to handle. Kolbe Bryant’s charges went away with his LA lawyer and attacking the young coed in Colorado. But at least in that case Kolbe had to pay. In this case, they got paid. Amazing in my opinion. Have any of you attended one of those fraternity parties, not knowing beforehand what to expect. Very similar to Animal House, but probably much worse.

    They dishonored the university and all coeds on the Duke campus. Most universities have honor and conduct codes, which could have been able to kick them out or at least suspend them for a semester.

    The racial slurs, … which were reportedly used were much worse than those about the Women’s Rutgers basketball team, which got the journalist fired. Hopefully Duke has added honor and conduct codes for all incoming students so that such parties and behavior is no longer allowed on campus. Remember the coach, who probably attended some of the parties, resigned. He would not have voluntarily resigned if there was nothing to it, in my opinion.

    Colorado had to clean up their mess also, but theirs was their football team’s behavior towards coeds. Similar charges were made against some Colorado football players, but they amazingly also appeared to go away also. It appears that a good offense is a good defense. We have a long ways to go with respect to the treatment and respect of our young coeds on campus. But then I did not see a lot of respect for either Hillary during the primaries or Sarah Pallin during the campaigning? We have a long long ways to go in my opinion. Fortunately Obama has not apparently made up with Hillary. The American Press and the Democrats owe Sarah Pallin a very big apology also. Here in Europe, where I am now, many people were surprised at the lack of respect and honor given to both Hillary and Sarah Pallin. We here in Europe, and specifically here in Germany where Angela Merkel is our leader, have great respect for both Hillary Clinton and Sarah Pallin.

    — KJJ    Dec 1, 02:41 PM    #

20. KJJ, are you one of those 88?

    — Mark de Goz    Dec 1, 04:54 PM    #

21. KJJ – There is little doubt that athletes are often given some slack and this needs to change. However, there are two comments you said that show a lack of understanding about the facts in this case (available to anyone who wishes to spend the time required to research the situation rather than just say whatever comes to mind):

    1) “the University would have won the case.” Of course the University wouldn’t have won the case! All of the evidence exonerated the boys. The semen found on the women was that of her ex-boyfriend, not one of the boys on the team. Further, one of the boys she claimed had raped her wasn’t even at the party (with proof). The list goes on and on and on. I suggest that you do your homework before making statements that only sound factual.

    2) “the racial slurs” – absolutely wrong to use racial slurs, I agree. But does this warrant 10 years in prison? Come on KJJ, lose the holier than thou attitude. I agree, the boys weren’t choir boys but neither were you and neither was I when we were in college. Did the boys make a mistake, absolutely. Should they be punished for the mistake they made, yes. But I am certain you agree, the punishment must fit the crime. Remember their entire season was cancelled. Is this an appropriate punishment for racial slurs – sounds draconian to me.

    — Edward    Dec 1, 09:05 PM    #

Previous: Suffolk U.'s Board Faces Conflict-of-Interest Questions
Next: College of Santa Fe Looks to State as Deal With Laureate Collapses