Ex-student cleared of rape but booted from top uni told he can sue accuser
A former student at prestigious Yale University has been told he can sue a woman who accused him of rape, causing him to be kicked out of the Ivy League institution.
Saifullah Khan, 30, was acquitted of rape in 2018 but later ousted from the university in 2019 anyway, completely de-railing his studies in neuroscience. The Connecticut Supreme Court has now ruled that he can sue his accuser for defamation over statements she made during a school hearing. He has had a $110 million defamation lawsuit pending against the Ivy League school since he was kicked out in 2019 and has been fighting in the courts to bring his accuser, a fellow student, into the suit.
His case hinged on a 2018 university hearing that eventually resulted in his expulsion in 2019, despite his being acquitted of the crime in a criminal trial in 2018. During the university hearing the female student testified that Khan raped her following a Halloween party in 2015. The legal argument has been over whether her statements had “qualified immunity”, meaning she could not be sued for defamation.
Saifullah was acquitted of rape in 2018 (twitter)Qualified immunity protects people from being sued for statements they make in judicial cases or “quasi judicial” cases, but in June the Connecticut Supreme Court ruled this did not cover the university hearing. The hearing was not a stand-in for a court proceeding, because Khan was not given the opportunity to cross-examine his accuser, the court ruled, therefore her statements were not legally protected.
“For absolute immunity to apply under Connecticut law,” the court decision says, “fundamental fairness requires meaningful cross-examination in proceedings like the one at issue.”
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Historic Yale university campus in downtown New Haven (Getty Images/iStockphoto)The woman was also not under oath when she testified at the hearing, and the university didn’t provide Khan’s side with a transcript of her testimony. During the hearing Khan’s team listened to the woman’s testimony from a separate room and never got the opportunity to question her.
Afghan-born Khan started attending Yale in 2012 after winning a full scholarship, majoring in neuroscience. But his education was de-railed after a 21-year-old acquaintance claimed he raped her when she was drunk following a Halloween costume party off campus. The case went to trial where Khan’s lawyers argued the sex was consensual and he was acquitted in 2018.
Khan was suspended from classes amid the allegations and then returned to school after his 2018 acquittal — despite widespread opposition to his return, including a petition with 78,000 signatures.He was ultimately kicked out of Yale in 2019 and began legal proceedings against the university.
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