Get the latest Syracuse news delivered right to your inbox.
Subscribe to our newsletter here.

Content warning: This article contains mentions of sexual assault.

Syracuse University settled a lawsuit filed by a woman who was sexually assaulted on campus in 2020 by former SU student Jacob Cohen, syracuse.com reported Tuesday.

Lawyers for the university and the plaintiff filed paperwork Friday saying that the lawsuit would be dropped, a month after lawyers informed the case’s judge that they had reached a settlement, according to syracuse.com. The settlement’s details were not included in the paperwork.

The plaintiff, who was a student at SU, first filed the lawsuit in August 2023, alleging the university mishandled its investigation into Cohen. The plaintiff had alleged that SU did not take adequate action to prevent contact between her and Cohen and that she was not notified that Cohen and his lawyer would be present on a Zoom call with another SU official.

The lawsuit had listed causes of action against the university of negligence, negligent misrepresentation/omission and breach of implied contract. It had also stated that the university violated the plaintiff’s student rights of adequate notice and unnecessary repetition of incident that are listed in SU’s Sexual Assault, Abuse and Assault Prevention Policy.

In August 2020, Cohen entered the dorm room of the plaintiff and her roommate without permission while they were sleeping and assaulted them. Cohen pleaded guilty to attempted sexual abuse and third degree rape in 2022. He was sentenced to six months in jail and 10 years of probation, and was required to register on the National Sex Offender Registry for life. There is a separate lawsuit against him still pending.

SU did not immediately respond to The Daily Orange’s request for comment regarding the settlement.

This post will be updated with additional reporting.

Published on July 9, 2024 at 10:13 pm

Contact Stephanie: spwright@syr.edu