Lawyers for an alleged victim of sexual harassment by a UT police officer asked the court for additional time to prove that two UT officials knew and ignored the officer's history of sexual misconduct.
Attorney Robert Schmidt filed a written request in the federal civil suit seeking more time to investigate whether UT President Larry Faulkner and UTPD Chief Jeff Van Slyke were "deliberately indifferent" to the alleged actions of Sellers Bailey III.
"[The defense is] saying that Faulkner and Van Slyke did everything they should have done, but at this point all the information that pertains to that issue is held by the defendants," Schmidt said. "Our response is, 'Let us look at your records and see.'"
A former University student, who has taken the pseudonym Jane Doe for the proceedings of the case, filed the civil suit against Bailey, Van Slyke and Faulkner in April. In the suit, Doe claims Bailey violated her civil rights when she was allegedly forced to perform oral sex on him in April 2001.
Bailey was found not guilty in September of the criminal charges resulting from the incident. During the criminal trial, Bailey admitted to having a sexual encounter with Doe but claimed it was consentual.
The Texas Attorney General's office, which is representing all three defendants, asserted in a motion filed in October that any involvement of Van Slyke and Faulkner in the case falls under "qualified immunity."
Qualified immunity shields government officials from civil liability unless the plaintiff can prove the official's personal involvement.
Doe's lawyers must prove Faulkner and Van Slyke knew about past allegations against Bailey and did nothing to prevent future incidents.
In particular, Doe's lawyers cite in their motion a sexual harassment claim against Bailey by a female former UT security guard. The guard claimed Bailey made several lewd comments to her in 1999.
After investigating the complaint, University officials concluded the allegations were unfounded, according to court documents.
If Judge Sam Sparks grants the plaintiff's motion, Schmidt said he will ask for Bailey's UTPD personnel file. He said he would also attempt to look into the conduct of UTPD as a whole.
"One of the things we filed was an affidavit from a female former University police officer who made a sexual harassment claim against a different police officer," Schmidt said. "I'm going to investigate whether UTPD has had a pattern of ignoring complaints of sexual harassment."
Van Slyke said Monday he was not at liberty to discuss the allegations or the lawsuit.
Faulkner was not immediately available for comment Monday.
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