Jane Doe's lawyer says she fears for her safety as Cornell civil case advances

Cornell suspends fraternity parties through academic year for safety review

BBC North America correspondent Nada Tawfik reported that lawyer Thomas Giuffra said Jane Doe’s life has been “completely upended” by the case she brought over an alleged assault at Cornell University’s Chi Phi fraternity house. Ahead of a Friday civil hearing in New York, Giuffra said Doe feels “under fire” as initial proceedings begin and a special prosecutor reviews whether criminal charges against the men are warranted.

The woman, known anonymously as Jane Doe, alleges that she was drugged and raped by several men at the fraternity house in October 2024. She is suing her former school, the fraternity and the men, who have all denied any wrongdoing. The men have not been charged with any crimes, and the civil proceedings are proceeding alongside the reopened criminal inquiry.

Cornell initially defended its disciplinary measures before acknowledging that it had fallen short in handling Doe’s case. Cornell’s president announced that fraternity parties would be suspended until the end of the academic year to allow a thorough review to determine whether and how they could safely continue. Cornell also said it would add sexual assault investigators to its police force.

The BBC asked Cornell for comment, and the university directed the outlet to previous statements and comments on its internal investigation in 2024. Giuffra said he was surprised Cornell had not reached out and believed the university had focused solely on “damage control.”

BBC reports separate unmasking campaign; Giuffra describes threats

After the case went viral, a series of “I am Jane Doe” solidarity posts appeared. Placards carrying the same message were seen at a Manhattan rally against sexual violence on 8 October. Alongside the solidarity effort, a separate campaign sought to unmask Doe and defend the men, the BBC reported.

Giuffra said the past few weeks have been “a very hard time” for Doe, who was not doing much beyond “surviving.” He said he visited her this week and found that she was not sleeping well and was relying on medication to rest. She is in trauma therapy and, after malicious threats directed at her and her family, does not feel safe in her own home, he said. Doe’s resolve had not been shaken, he said, and she remained determined to overhaul the university system at Cornell and across the country to protect survivors.

Doe’s address was published online without her consent, Giuffra said. Someone then called in a fake emergency, prompting police in full tactical gear to draw assault rifles on Doe’s father, her friend and her brother at the family home. “It’s just constant fear,” he said.

Giuffra raises stale evidence concerns in reopened investigation

New York Gov. Kathy Hochul appointed Attorney General Letitia James as special prosecutor to oversee a reopened investigation into whether criminal charges are warranted. Giuffra expects the investigation to take a long time but said he was concerned investigators would pursue evidence that was already “stale.”

“A lot of the communication was on Snapchat, Snapchat goes away,” Giuffra told the BBC. He said the best time to collect evidence was around the time of the alleged crime, adding: “The best time to get evidence is around the time of the crime and that just didn’t happen.”

Settlement demands and burden-of-proof issues

Giuffra said Doe brought the suit to seek closure and take power back. He said any agreement with Cornell to resolve the lawsuit would need to include “steps to ensure there are no more Jane Does” and support for any future accusers.

Giuffra believes he can win the civil case against Cornell, the men and other defendants because the burden of proof is lower than in a criminal case. A civil case requires a preponderance of the evidence — more likely than not — while a criminal case requires proof beyond a reasonable doubt. The BBC noted that jury assessments of consent in recent high-profile cases can be unpredictable. “I wouldn’t have taken the case if I didn’t think it was a strong case that I could win and get her some closure,” he said.

MSI reported on Oct. 10 that threats against Doe’s family included a fake emergency call that brought armed police to their home. Earlier coverage on Oct. 2 described the online effort to identify Doe and the appointment of a special prosecutor. The current account advances that sequence: the civil case has entered initial proceedings, while the criminal investigation and questions about electronic evidence remain unresolved.