It has to be someones fault, and I want to get paid.

[Wildcard Ky]

I think this takes the cake in stupid lawsuits:

A former University of Louisville student who alleges that she was raped during a study-abroad program last year is suing the school and an assistant professor, saying they didn't adequately prepare her for a trip to Portugal and failed to take proper steps after the alleged assault.

The woman, who attended U of L from 2001 to 2004, according to the lawsuit, filed the suit yesterday in U.S. District Court at Louisville. It names as defendants the school and Shawn Parkhurst, who supervised the Portugal program, according to the suit.

The woman alleges that she was raped in July 2004. She was "out of the country for the first time and uninformed of the reality and extent of crime and possible gender victimization in Portugal," according to the lawsuit.

The student granted the university and Parkhurst full authority to act for her health and safety, and she should have been provided with "sufficient information" to be safe, according to the suit, which seeks unspecified damages.

"The United States, as best we can, is an equal-opportunity country," Eric J. Jacobi, one of the woman's attorneys, said in a phone interview yesterday. "But 'no' doesn't mean 'no' to some of these guys in some of these countries."

Jacobi said Parkhurst knew about that cultural differences and should have warned students. Parkhurst is listed as an assistant professor of anthropology on U of L's Web site.



So let me get this straight. Here we have an adult woman that travels to another country. VERY SADLY, she was raped while visiting this other country. Now she thinks it's the schools fault for not informing her that rape and other horrible crimes happen in other countries besides the U.S.? It's very sad that this woman was raped. I hope the guy who did it is caught and castrated. I'm stunned by this lawsuit though. The "no doesn't mean no" comment by the lawyer gives me the impression of some form of date or acquaintance rape. The only fault lies with the guy that did this to her. Not with the school for not telling her that date rape is possible in another country.

Is the school expected to tell her that if she gets hit by a car in Portugal, she could be seriously injured? No, common sense should tell her that. What happened to her is horrible. What she and her lawyer are now trying to do is ignorant.

 

[Dar~]

That does seem a bit messed up, and she is a grown up and should realize that it isn't the school's fault that she was naive.

 

[sophia jane]

On one hand, I do think it's important for students to be appropriately informed about the value and culture of the country they're visiting. For example, women need to know how to act in a Muslim nation, etc. But on the other hand, you're right Wildcard- it's not the school's fault she was raped. There is no one to blame for that but the man who committed the act. It seems she's suing the school because that was the only way she could find to get closure. Or perhaps she's just one of the many people who find lawsuits the easiest way to make money. Either way, the whole thing is pretty sad, and if she wins, would set a precedent. I can imagine girls suing colleges when they get raped/assaulted at a frat party, saying that the school hadn't done enough to protect them.

SJ

 

[Lauren Hynde]

LOL

As someone from Portugal, I can only laugh at something like this. "Uninformed of the reality and extent of crime and possible gender victimization in Portugal."

 

[Colleen Thomas]

LOL

As someone from Portugal, I can only laugh at something like this. "Uninformed of the reality and extent of crime and possible gender victimization in Portugal."

Yeah, like you're fooling anyone. We all know how dangerous your portugese are.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Yeah, like you're fooling anyone. We all know how dangerous your portugese are.

Serial murderer and possible gender victimizer in every corner, baby.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

On one hand, I do think it's important for students to be appropriately informed about the value and culture of the country they're visiting. For example, women need to know how to act in a Muslim nation, etc. But on the other hand, you're right Wildcard- it's not the school's fault she was raped. There is no one to blame for that but the man who committed the act. It seems she's suing the school because that was the only way she could find to get closure. Or perhaps she's just one of the many people who find lawsuits the easiest way to make money. Either way, the whole thing is pretty sad, and if she wins, would set a precedent. I can imagine girls suing colleges when they get raped/assaulted at a frat party, saying that the school hadn't done enough to protect them.

SJ

At a frat party, there is at least some culpability, as the Frats are afiliated with the school and their parties are, in some measure, school sponsored events.

It shouldn't even make it past the school asking for it to be dismissed, but it probably will be heard. If juries can find McDonalds guilty for selling hot coffee, Philp morris guilty because someone smoked themselves to lung cancer, wendy's responsibile because someone is a blob or Remington gulty because someone used a madle 1100 to kill someone, why not the school?

It's sad, but you can litigate just about anything in this country and without a body of law that allows the prson sued to recoup the money spent in their defense if the suit is frivilous, it's just going to get worse.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

Serial murderer and possible gender victimizer in every corner, baby.

What I find most interesting is no dosen't mean no over there, so let me be the first to tell you, No

 

[Dar~]

I hope lauren rapes me.

 

[Colleen Thomas]

I hope lauren rapes me.

hey hey hey! MOve to the back of the line!

 

[Dar~]

hey hey hey! MOve to the back of the line!

okay, but I have a tendency to grope whoever is ahead of me.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

What I find most interesting is no dosen't mean no over there, so let me be the first to tell you, No

LOL

You know, in a way, that Eric J. Jacobi guy is right. Our official language is Portuguese, not English, and in Portuguese, "no" - pronounced "noo" - is a contraction of a preposition and a defined article, and means "in the", "on the" or "at the". "Não" means "no", and I'm pretty sure that at least as many guys over here know it as they do in Louisville, if not more.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Wild, do you have a link to where you got that? I'm tempted to email it to the Portuguese embassy in the US and to the Ministry of Tourism to find out if they would like to consider suing Eric J. Jacobi for unspecified damages.

 

[CharleyH]

I hope lauren rapes me.

LOL Dar? You hope everyone does! LOL

I have heard dumber lawsuits that actually won. Case in point? IDIOT who puts coffee between her legs and spills it. SUE the coffee maker for your stupidity and YES! Millions. The American dream?

 

[Dar~]

LOL Dar? You hope everyone does! LOL

So! (just the hot women . . okay so everyone.)

 

[Colleen Thomas]

LOL Dar? You hope everyone does! LOL

I have heard dumber lawsuits that actually won. Case in point? IDIOT who puts coffee between her legs and spills it. SUE the coffee maker for your stupidity and YES! Millions. The American dream?

to be fair, that decision was overturned on appeal

 

[Lauren Hynde]

I was just looking at rape statistics - out of curiosity - and came out with some interesting numbers. The latest figures I could get my hands on referred to 1999, when there were 3.83 reported rapes for each 100000 inhabitants in Portugal, against 32.05 in the US. And in the US, only 16% of rapes are ever reported to the police, so that number is actually much higher.

 

[CharleyH]

to be fair, that decision was overturned on appeal

THANK GOD! Because that was the most idiotic thing I have ever heard! I will never mention Mickey D again.

 

[CharleyH]

I was just looking at rape statistics - out of curiosity - and came out with some interesting numbers. The latest figures I could get my hands on referred to 1999, when there were 3.83 reported rapes for each 100000 inhabitants in Portugal, against 32.05 in the US. And in the US, only 16% of rapes are ever reported to the police, so that number is actually much higher.

Economics are spun to the one spinning, and so I never trust stats. I am GUESSING, higher though - sadly.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

Economics are spun to the one spinning, and so I never trust stats. I am GUESSING, higher though - sadly.

They were pre-spun when they got to me, if at all. Still, the difference is too HUGE to be written off as political spin. Indeed sadly.

 

[Xelebes]

What I find most interesting is no dosen't mean no over there, so let me be the first to tell you, No

I bet "bananas" is the universal safe word there.

 

[Lauren Hynde]

 

[Wildcard Ky]

Wild, do you have a link to where you got that? I'm tempted to email it to the Portuguese embassy in the US and to the Ministry of Tourism to find out if they would like to consider suing Eric J. Jacobi for unspecified damages.

Louisville newspaper

 

[Guest]

 

[TheEarl]

My God! How could the university be so negligent? They have a duty of care to this poor woman to explain to her the horrific dangers that await the unwary in Portugal.

I mean they don't even speak English there! They're practically animals!

The Earl