Houston jury awards former Rice University football player $1.3 million in anti-male bias case

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- A federal jury has ordered Rice University to pay more than a million dollars in damages, finding that the school discriminated against a former football player accused of giving a female student a sexually transmitted disease.

The judgment was first reported by ABC13's partners at the Houston Chronicle. According to the complaint, the incident stems from a 2017 relationship between an 18-year-old male student and a 21-year-old woman. The lawsuit alleged that the woman filed a criminal complaint and Title IX complaint with the school, accusing her former partner of failing to disclose he had herpes before the two had consensual sex.

According to court documents, a criminal case was not pursued.

The university suspended the male student following its own investigation.

In April 2018, the student was released from the football program and his scholarship, eventually withdrawing from the school.

The following year, the former football player sued, alleging the school acted on built-in biases against men in suspending him, and ignored key evidence, including that the woman told investigators he had disclosed the STD.

After years of court battles, a federal jury this month ruled the school at fault, awarding him more than $1.3 million in lost and potential earnings.

The student's lawyer, Susan Hutchison, was not available for an interview this afternoon but told the Chronicle, "They had a broken system. It was rigged. It was that system that was rigged, and it was rigged in her favor."

Rice University would not comment to ABC13 on the decision.