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Sexual assault victim reaches settlement with Baylor, Art Briles removed from suit
Former Baylor student Jasmin Hernandez, who was raped by an ex-Baylor football player, reached a settlement in her Title IX lawsuit against the university.
The lawsuit, which included former head coach Art Briles and athletic director Ian McCaw as defendants, said Baylor “failed to properly train and educate” its employees in the “appropriate response to allegations of sexual harassment, sexual abuse and retaliatory conduct.” According to ESPN.com and the Waco Tribune, the sides reached an agreement to give Hernandez a financial settlement after mediation on Saturday. The financial amount was not disclosed.
In 2014, Tevin Elliott, who played three seasons for Baylor, was convicted of sexually assaulting Hernandez in 2012. Hernandez was one of three women who told ESPN’s Outside the Lines they were sexually assaulted by Elliott, who is serving a 20-year sentence, and the school did nothing to help them. Hernandez spoke publicly for the first time when filing the lawsuit in March 2016. Hernandez’s suit was the first of five Title IX lawsuits filed against Baylor by women who said the university mishandled allegations of assault or abuse against them.
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Briles and McCaw were accused of negligence in the suit, but the two were removed as defendants Tuesday, per the Tribune. Briles does not owe any sort of apology or money, Briles’ attorney, Mark Lanier, told the paper:
Lanier said Hernandez dropped the suit against Briles and did not request money or an apology from him. Lanier said Briles feels “a measure of vindication” by Tuesday’s filing.
“He does feel bad for anybody who was hurt at all,” Lanier said of Briles. “Whether through Baylor or otherwise, he’s still got a soft heart for a victim of any crime at all. He’s cognizant of that.”
Lanier said Briles has received interest about his coaching services from schools and that he anticipates Briles back with a program in 2018.
“There’s no question this is one step toward him getting back into coaching,” Lanier told the Tribune. “He did not want to get back into coaching until he finished through the legal system.”
Briles was head coach at Baylor from 2008 to 2015, but was fired in May 2016 after the school’s board of regents released the findings of fact from law firm Pepper Hamilton’s investigation into the school’s handling of sexual assault accusations, including many against football players.
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The investigation found failings within the leadership of the athletic department and football program and said there were “significant concerns about the tone and culture within Baylor’s football program as it relates to accountability for all forms of student-athlete misconduct.”
McCaw, now the athletic director at Liberty University, resigned amid the turmoil. Ken Starr was removed as president and eventually resigned as chancellor and from other positions at the school.
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Sam Cooper is a writer for the Yahoo Sports blogs. Have a tip? Email him or follow him on Twitter!