(Photo by Josh)

Five Jane Does have filed a lawsuit against George Washington University and one of its employees over what they say was a hostile work environment in which three of them were allegedly raped by a male coworker.

All five women claim they were sexually harassed and demeaned in the workplace by this coworker. They also say they reported their concerns, and even their assaults, to management, but were ignored and forced to continue working in the presence of their aggressor.

The five women who filed the complaint are undergraduates at GW. Four of them were sophomores and one was a junior when the case was filed on May 10. They were all employed in different capacities at the Institute for International Economic Policy, a part of the Elliott School of International Affairs, through a federal work study program.

Their alleged aggressor is an employee in his mid-twenties at IIEP who is also a student at GW. DCist is not naming the alleged assailant because he has not been charged with a crime.

In addition to the school, a manager at IIEP is another defendant in the suit. The women claim he knew about their experiences with alleged harassment and assault by their coworker.

The three women who say they were assaulted describe being asked over to their coworker’s apartment and feeling unable to say no.

One of the women, Jane Doe 4, says she went out with a group of coworkers to a nightclub, where she was given alcohol by her alleged assailant (she is underage). She says she was inebriated to the point of being “unresponsive” when he assaulted her at his apartment later that night. According to the complaint, her assailant then bragged about their sexual encounter to coworkers, publicly ranking her among other women he had supposedly slept with in the office.

This public ranking system was also described by others in the complaint. Reportedly, the man in question announced to coworkers that one of the women was like “a dead fish because she was so drunk.” He also reportedly told one of the women that “I am never sticking my dick into the pool of IIEP ever again.”

Another plaintiff describes a similar scenario. Jane Doe 5 was reportedly at a freshman party attended by her co-worker, who is in his mid-twenties. The complaint says she drank a lot of alcohol that night, and that her coworker pressured her to get into an Uber with him later that night, where he assaulted her. She also says she was assaulted when they arrived at his home. At one point while there, the woman says she was so drunk she lost consciousness.

The third woman who says she was raped, Jane Doe 2, describes going over to her coworker’s house after explicitly telling him she did not want to do anything sexual. The complaint says he physically overpowered her despite multiple objections. After her rape, she describes being fearful of returning to work at IIEP. Her alleged assailant reportedly told other coworkers that “Yeah we fucked.”

The complaint describes a work environment in which women were constantly trying to avoid the male coworker in question. Jane Doe 3 says she received several messages in a suggestion box complaining about the coworker’s conduct in the office, and other female colleagues requested that she schedule their shifts so they could avoid him.

Jane Doe 1 says she mentioned an upcoming performance to her coworkers, and her alleged harasser asked if he could attend. She told him no, but later, he reportedly sent her photos of herself at the performance. He also allegedly sent her a text message at 2:18 a.m. reading “Oh my god you’re so hot.” She describes receiving a text from another female coworker asking if he had left the office. She was apparently hiding in a stairwell waiting for him to leave.

The complaint says he asked Jane Doe 1 on a date several times, but she repeatedly turned him down. She eventually resigned from her position out of fear of interacting with him.

Several of the Jane Does ended their employment after complaining about this coworker’s conduct.

The complaint says that “GW has had actual constructive knowledge of the sexually hostile work environment [at IIEP] since September 2017 when the harassment began.” Several of the women say they went to their supervisor to complain about this coworker, and their supervisor did not take action. He allegedly told one of the women that “Sometimes you need to work with people that you don’t necessarily get along with.”

On March 26 of this year, Jane Doe 2 resigned from her position at IIEP, writing to her supervisor: “The institute’s either inability or unwillingness to protect myself and my peers from a clear and imminent threat has been disheartening to say the least. To know that [the alleged assailant] is still not formally fired and that 11 girls complaining is not enough for IIEP and GWU to ensure his dismissal is, frankly, grossly astounding.”

The supervisor named as a defendant in the suit told The Washington Post that “my review of the complaint shows that it is inaccurate in a number of respects and mischaracterizes my actions.”

This supervisor is still employed at IIEP. It’s unclear whether the alleged assailant continues to work there.

GWU has moved the case from D.C. Superior Court to federal court. The University told DCist that it does not comment on specific cases while they are pending. In an email, a university spokesperson said that “the George Washington University takes issues of sexual misconduct, sexual violence, and its obligations under Title IX very seriously.”

Brendan Klaproth, the attorney representing the five women bringing the suit, told DCist that “GW knew this was occuring. GW had an obligation to investigate and protect my clients from this type of behavior.”

This is not the first time that GW has been embroiled in a lawsuit alleging it did not appropriately handle allegations of sexual assault. Earlier this year, Aniqa Raihan, a former student at GW, sued her alma mater for allegedly botching a Title XI investigation.

Raihan says she was sexually assaulted by another student during her freshman year in a dorm room on campus. Her alleged assailant was given a “deferred suspension” after an investigation found that he had committed an act of sexual violence, meaning that he couldn’t step foot in residence halls, but he was still able to graduate on time.

Her lawsuit is also seeking damages, though the amount would be determined at trial.