A student at Florida A&M University College of Law has filed a lawsuit against the university, alleging she was sexually assaulted by Orenn Fells, an admissions counselor. The student, who filed the suit as a Jane Doe plaintiff, further alleges that when she reported the misconduct to the school, they mishandled the investigation.
The complaint alleges Jane Doe’s interactions with Fells began in the summer of 2017 when she called the admissions office to follow up on her application to the law school class entering in the fall. During that initial call, Doe says Fells told her he’d “pull some strings” to have her admitted to the law school. The complaint further states Fells later reached out to Doe letting her know she’d receive an acceptance email shortly. Doe then alleges Fells began texting her with what began as professional messages but devolved into the inappropriate, including calling her “sexy chocolate.”
When Doe arrived on campus, she alleges Fells continued, and even escalated his harassment:
During orientation, Orenn Fells text messaged Jane Doe and requested that she meet him at the library. While in the library, Orenn Fells grabbed Jane Doe’s face and forcefully attempted to kiss her on the lips while grabbing her on her thighs near her buttocks attempting to pull her close to him. Jane Doe declined and attempted to retreat. After leaving the library, Orenn Fells grabbed Jane Doe’s chin and tried to kiss Jane Doe again while in the elevator. She pushed him off again.
After this incident, Doe alleges the inappropriate sexual harassment continued, with Fells sending her pornographic materials and trying to kiss her again. The complaint alleges that despite attempting to block Fells on social media, he again reached out to her and allegedly demanded to know why contact between the two had stopped:
After receiving the sexually explicit text messages, Jane Doe blocked Orenn Fells’ personal cellular phone, work phone and Facebook page. Orenn Fells confronted Jane Doe at the library and demanded to know why she blocked him. Jane Doe told Orenn Fells that she felt uncomfortable. He responded that it was because of him that she got into FAMU.
The complaint alleges Doe feared Fells would “do something to jeopardize her law school education.” In October of her first year of law school, Doe alleges Fells requested to meet her in her car, which she reluctantly did. During that encounter, she alleges Fells forced her, without consent, to perform oral sex on him.
According to the complaint, the plaintiff’s grades suffered as a result of these incidents. Doe filed a Title IX complaint with the university in December of 2017. Fells was placed on administrative leave during the investigation, but the complaint alleges that the process was mishandled and the school ignored similar complaints against Fells, as reported by Law.com:
The plaintiff claims the university investigator misstated her allegations against the defendant, failed to follow up on corroborating evidence such as text messages between the two parties and phone records, and failed to gather witness statements.
The complaint alleges that the investigation was “superficial, perfunctory, incomplete, and inaccurate.”
Moreover, the complaint alleges that other female students had previously complained to the administration about the defendant sending inappropriate messages to their social media accounts as well as accusations that male admissions employees would demand sexual favors of female applicants in order to gain admission.
The complaint also alleges Florida A&M reinstated Fells to his position in May 2018.
You can read the full complaint on the next page.
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. AtL tipsters are the best, so please connect with her. Feel free to email her with any tips, questions, or comments and follow her on Twitter (@Kathryn1).