A standout NCAA basketball player is suing his former university for what he claims was wrongful expulsion.
Dez Wells filed a lawsuit Tuesday against Xavier University, a Jesuit Catholic university in Cincinnati, and its president, Father Michael Graham, at the United States Southern District Court in Cincinnati, Yahoo! Sports reported. The university expelled him last year after a female student claimed he sexually assaulted her last summer.
The lawsuit, which Yahoo! Sports says asks for financial compensation and a dismissal of the expulsion, claims that Xavier did not adhere to its own policies in its decision to expel Wells. The suit also alleges the University did not respond to prosecutor Joseph Deters’ concerns about the truthfulness of the allegation, declined to wait for laboratory results, and allowed for only a two-day appeal period, according to Yahoo! Sports.
Additionally, the lawsuit claims that the expulsion will pose problems for Wells in the job market or in joining the NBA if he decides to do so, according to The Huffington Post.
“The repercussions to Dez of the school’s reckless actions are significant,” attorney Peter Ginsberg said Wednesday.
Deters, who examined the case, said the sexual assault allegation “didn’t reach anything close to the standard of proof,” according to Yahoo! Sports. A grand jury also decided not to indict Wells, who currently plays for the University of Maryland and led the team in scoring this past season.
The Huffington Post reports that Wells claims he’s experienced ridicule from fans.
“From the moment this nightmare began, I’ve been trying to get everyone to understand that I am innocent,” Wells said in a statement through Ginsberg. “The supposed leaders at Xavier destroyed my reputation. It needs to make this right. Xavier needs to set the record straight.”
Wells and the woman had sex after a night of playing “truth or dare” in their dorm with others last summer. The suit claims the sex was consensual, saying the woman asked Wells if he had a condom before starting to have sex, Yahoo! Sports reported.
The woman reported an assault to campus police the following day and also met with Cincinnati police, according to Yahoo! Sports. In his investigation, Deters developed doubts about the allegations and tried to relay them to Father Graham without a response, the suit said. Before the grand jury cleared Wells, he was called to Xavier’s University Conduct Board and was expelled on Aug. 3, 2012, Yahoo! Sports reported.
Father Graham issued a statement to Yahoo! Sports on Tuesday.
“The University has never revealed the specific charge against Dez Wells other than to say he was found responsible for a violation of the Student Code of Conduct,” said part of Father Graham’s statement. “The university will vigorously defend the process and the decision.”