University of Oregon Sued over Basketball Players' Alleged Sexual Assault

An alleged sexual assault led to the dismissal of three University of Oregon men's basketball players in May, but the school and head coach Dana Altman remain under fire.

According to Andrew Greif of The Oregonian, the accuser has filed a lawsuit against both the University of Oregon and Altman:

Per Greif, the plaintiff, who is a University of Oregon student, claims the alleged assault was a result of both Oregon and Altman violating Title IX rights by ignoring the fact that Brandon Austin, who was among the accused attackers, was accused of sexual assault at Providence College previously.

Austin, Damyean Dotson and Dominic Artis were all released from Oregon's basketball program due to their involvement in the alleged March assault, according to ESPN.com's Myron Medcalf.

The accuser's attorney, John Clune, stressed the importance of pursuing this case due to the precedent it could ultimately set, per Greif.

"This is a very important case that needs to be litigated," Clune said in a statement. "It is time for athletic departments to stop trading the safety of women on campus for points on a scoreboard."

Interim University of Oregon president Scott Coltrane disagrees with the suit, however, as seen in this statement, courtesy of KEZI 9's Mike Skow:

While both the university and Altman stand to be negatively impacted financially should the accuser win this case, it remains to be seen how this will affect Altman's job status.

John Canzano of The Oregonian is among those who believe that Altman should be removed from his post as head coach of the men's basketball team:

The 56-year-old coach has certainly enjoyed on-court success with the Ducks, as he orchestrated four 20-win seasons and two trips to the NCAA tournament in his first four years, and his team is 11-4 in 2014-15. 

If he was aware of the potential dangers Austin posed on the University of Oregon campus as alleged in the lawsuit, however, the school may have no choice but to make a change.

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