Thirty-eight members of the 2006 Duke University lacrosse team filed a lawsuit Thursday against the university, President Richard Brodhead, the city of Durham, N.C., and a nurse at Duke University Hospital for emotional distress and other damages resulting from a now-discredited rape case.
Collin Finnerty, Reade Seligmann and David Evans, the lacrosse players accused of kidnapping and raping a woman at a team party in March of 2006, were exonerated last year. The case fell apart for lack of DNA evidence and because the alleged victim retracted much of her story.
Charles Cooper, attorney for the 38 team members and nine family members participating in the lawsuit, said the players were “reviled in the local and national press as a depraved gang of privileged White hooligans who brutally raped a Black exotic dancer in a crowded bathroom.”
“For more than a year, the lacrosse players were harassed in class by teachers and students. They were the targets of protest marches … victimized by a corrupt investigation that ignored evidence that would have cleared them. The university turned its back on the players to protect its own image,” Cooper said.
During the tumultuous period, Duke University officials suspended the lacrosse team from play until a “clearer resolution of the legal situation” was reached and fired the team’s coach. According to Cooper, Brodhead issued statements and imposed a series of severe disciplinary actions on the team that signaled the players’ guilt.
The whole incident raised issues of class and race. Also at issue is the impact of a full-page advertisement in the students newspaper, the Duke Chronicle, purchased by faculty members stating the concerns minority students had expressed in town-hall style forums. The advertisement was signed by 88 faculty members, representing 13 departments.
“The impact of the ad was devastating,” Dr. Steven Baldwin, a chemistry professor at Duke told Diverse in a March 2007 story. “This was a large segment of the faculty, some highly respected, and it really swung the pendulum against the lacrosse players.”
