Giuffra said the woman, identified as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, wanted to leave Cornell to recover at home.
The former Cornell University student accusing seven fraternity members of sexually assaulting her in 2024 was forced to remain on campus after the alleged attack because Cornell would not refund her tuition for the rest of the year, her attorney claims.
Thomas Giuffra, who represents the woman suing Cornell and seven men named in the case, spoke on Monday’s episode of “The Lead with Jake Tapper.”
Giuffra said the woman, identified as Jane Doe in the lawsuit, wanted to leave Cornell to recover at home but instead spent another semester on a campus where she regularly encountered men she accused of participating in the assault.
“She felt like she wasn’t heard and there was no accountability,” Giuffra said. “She wanted to leave the university and go home and heal. And her parents, who had paid thousands and thousands of dollars for her to attend Cornell, tried to get their money back.”
“Cornell said, ‘No, you have to stay in school,’” he claimed. “So she spent an entire semester on the campus where she saw these guys on a fairly regular basis.”
Giuffra also criticized Cornell police’s handling of the allegation, saying he was surprised his client “never heard from any investigators.”
A civil complaint filed this month prompted prosecutors to reopen their criminal review. The Tompkins County district attorney has said the case is expected to be presented to a grand jury with Jane Doe’s cooperation.
Cornell barred the Chi Phi chapter from campus after the alleged Oct. 19, 2024, incident. None of the men named in the lawsuit were criminally charged at the time, according to the district attorney.
The complaint alleges a fraternity member sent a Snapchat message inviting other members to participate in the alleged sexual assault.
Giuffra said his client now wants “accountability” after her life was “destroyed.”
“She’s a woman who comes from a small town. She was not somebody who was a legacy, from a wealthy family,” he said. “This was her dream and it was taken away from her at a young age in just a horrific fashion.”
Giuffra said she is no longer in college and is “barely hanging on.”
