One of the seven men accused by a Cornell University student of sexual assault sued the school in March seeking to overturn the punishment given to him after a school administrative investigation and expunge references to the assault allegation from his academic record, according to court records unsealed in New York’s Tomkins County Supreme Court this week.

The man, identified in the filings as John Doe, was among the seven members of the Chi Phi fraternity who were accused of assault by a fellow student in a lawsuit filed Sept. 16. (Although the fraternity members were identified by name in that lawsuit, it was not clear which filed the suit seeking to overturn his punishment under the name John Doe.)

All of the men accused in the woman’s suit have denied any wrongdoing. None was charged with a crime after the university’s campus police and the university itself investigated, but the Tompkins County district attorney, Matthew Van Houten, reopened the inquiry in the wake of the woman’s suit.

The seven men were investigated by Cornell’s Title IX administrators in the winter of 2024, according to documents obtained by The New York Times.

The court records filed in John Doe’s case show that, after a 12-day evidentiary hearing in which he faced charges of sexual assault and sexual exploitation, he was found responsible for attempted sexual exploitation.

They also show the punishments he received following the decision, including a one-way no-contact order with the woman, a requirement that he take a class about social media use and sexual harassment, and an order to write a reflection paper specifically addressing his actions.

According to the filings, John Doe had gone to the room where the assault occurred after seeing a Snapchat message sent to a group chat with dozens of Chi Phi members. On that night, fraternity members shared several Snapchat messages that used crude and dehumanizing terms to describe the woman and the sexual activity taking place in that room.

After an appeal of the panel’s decision to hold him responsible for attempted sexual exploitation was unsuccessful, the records show, John Doe sued the school, arguing that university officials had not sufficiently informed him of that charge.

Last week, a judge sided with Cornell, dismissing John Doe’s petition. Two days later, on Sept. 25, he filed a notice of appeal to a higher court. That case is currently pending in the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of the State of New York.

Alan Sash, a lawyer for John Doe, said in a statement Friday that he intended to appeal the lower court’s decision, saying that he aimed to hold the university responsible for the sake of his client and “every student whose future Cornell places in jeopardy.”

The school “cannot move the goal posts and hold a student responsible for conduct he was never charged with and never given a fair opportunity to defend against,” Sash said.

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This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

By Maia Coleman/Heather Ainsworth
c. 2026 The New York Times Company