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Supreme
Court hears case of Gonzaga graduate falsely accused of date rape
e WASHINGTON — After being falsely accused of date rape, Gonzaga University graduate Rue Paster wants to collect $450,000 from university officials who released details of the allegation to a potential employer. The Supreme Court heard Paster’s story Wednesday and is expected to use it to clarify the rights of students or parents to enforce federal privacy law. University officials told him they could not give him a character recommendation he needed for a teaching certificate because of allegations that he stalked and assaulted a fellow student. The school had passed the allegations on to state authorities in Washington. The rape allegations came to the school third-hand, and the alleged victim denied them. Paster sued, charging that the university violated the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act. A jury ordered the Jesuit college to pay Paster $1.1 million for defamation and other claims, including violations of the federal act. He has collected about $600,000 for the claims not connected to the federal law. The issue for the Supreme Court is whether Paster can sue to enforce the privacy law. The university and the Bush administration, which sides with the school, argued that Congress never intended to give individuals that right, but Paster’s lawyer said other courts have used the law to uphold the right to sue. The court ruled earlier this year that the practice of having one student grade another’s paper does not violate the same federal law. In considering that case, the court assumed that the family at the heart of the case did have the right to sue. The court then agreed to hear the Gonzaga case to settle the matter. The
federal law divides student information into two broad categories:
directory information such as name and address, and everything else. Congress has carved out exceptions, including one allowing parental notification if a student is disciplined for alcohol use. |
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