Columbia University student accused of rape sues school

A Columbia University student sued the school Thursday, saying it failed to protect him against harassment when a female student went public with claims he raped her after school authorities rejected her case.

The lawsuit was filed in Manhattan federal court (PDF) by Paul Nungesser, a German citizen and Columbia senior who said classmate Emma Sulkowicz defamed him by repeatedly and publicly calling him a "serial rapist" and carrying her mattress on her back around campus as a form of protest, garnering national and international media attention.

Defendants include the school, its board of trustees, President Lee C. Bollinger and Professor Jon Kessler, who taught the visual arts class in which Sulkowicz began her mattress-carrying project, which she called “Mattress Performance (Carry That Weight).” The lawsuit sought unspecified damages.

"Columbia University's effective sponsorship of the gender-based harassment and defamation of Paul resulted in an intimidating, hostile, demeaning ... learning and living environment," the lawsuit said.

In his lawsuit, Nungesser said a Columbia-owned website had presented as fact that he sexually assaulted Sulkowicz, a senior majoring in visual arts. It said that the school allowed Sulkowicz to carry the mattress into classes, the library and campus-provided transportation as part of her senior thesis, that Kessler approved the "Mattress Project" for her course credit and that Sulkowicz's pledge to carry her mattress to graduation may prevent Nungesser and his parents, who'd like to fly from Germany, from participating in graduation ceremonies.

"Day-to-day life is unbearably stressful, as Emma and her mattress parade around campus each and every day," the suit said.

The performance piece earned Sulkowicz national headlines and an award from the National Organization for Women.

As a result of publicity that resulted in media reports in 35 countries, the lawsuit said, Nungesser "has been subjected to severe, pervasive ... and threatening behavior by other Columbia students, believing that Paul is a 'serial rapist,' whenever Paul has appeared at university activities."

The complaint also said he wants to stay in the United States, where he has been dating a girlfriend for over a year, and is seeking consulting work in New York, though job prospects have been "severely jeopardized" by the school's support of Sulkowicz.

Robert Hornsby, a Columbia spokesman, said the school had no comment. Email messages requesting comment from Bollinger and Kessler were not immediately returned. The suit was filed three days after a judge tossed out another gender-based lawsuit brought by a male student against Columbia University.

In an email responding to a request for comment, Sulkowicz wrote: "I think it's ridiculous that Paul would sue not only the school but one of my past professors for allowing me to make an art piece.”

"It's ridiculous that he would read it as a 'bullying strategy,' especially given his continued public attempts to smear my reputation, when really it's just an artistic expression of the personal trauma I've experienced at Columbia. If artists are not allowed to make art that reflect on our experiences, then how are we to heal?"

Sulkowicz has argued her case was badly mishandled by the school disciplinary panel after she reported in 2013 she was raped in her dorm months before. Nungesser has maintained their sex was consensual, while Sulcowicz said it had started as consensual but turned violent. Sulkowicz filed a police report in May 2014, but according to local media did not pursue a criminal case.

She was among 23 students who sued Columbia last year, saying it mishandled sexual assault cases. She also attended President Barack Obama's State of the Union address in January at the invitation of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand, a Democrat from New York.

Wire services