Cornell gang-rape lawsuit: accused men's lawyer seeks gag order on public statements

The allegations

Jane Doe, a former Cornell student, filed a civil lawsuit in September against the Chi Phi fraternity, the Delta Delta Delta sorority, Cornell University and seven members of Chi Phi. She alleges that the seven men gang-raped her during a party on the night of 19 October 2024, when she was 20 years old, and she says she was drugged before the assault. Her earlier complaint had been closed, and the investigation has since been reopened. The defendants claim the sex was consensual, that she initiated it, or that they did not take part, while she says it was assault. None of the men has been criminally charged, and all have denied wrongdoing. After she reported the incident to Cornell's police department, Chi Phi was suspended and a months-long investigation followed, ending with two men expelled and others suspended. The lawsuit accuses Cornell of trying to cover up the case to protect its reputation and that of its fraternities.

Court filings and the gag order

On 9 October, James C. Knox, an attorney for one of the accused men, asked the judge to impose a gag order limiting what the parties and their lawyers can say in public. Doe's lawyer, Thomas Giuffra, has given dozens of media interviews since the lawsuit was filed, and Knox argues this creates a risk of prejudice to his client and to all defendants. Knox put the point to the court in writing:

Plaintiff's attorney's media blast was not merely an organic result of inquiry, but has been an orchestrated campaign from the outset.

Giuffra responded that the gag order was an attempt "to silence me and Ms. Doe" because the defence had failed to undermine her account. On Friday, 9 October, the court sealed several documents after complaints that a U.S. Marine and his family were harassed. The Marine shares a name with one of the defendants, and his address was mistakenly included in the court files. The court's filing notes that information in filed documents had already been used by online observers to threaten and dox a nonparty's family.

Prosecutors and the university's response

New York Governor Kathy Hochul appointed a special prosecutor in October to look into the case, though no charges have been filed. Cornell president Michael Kotlikoff addressed the incident in an eight-minute video message, in which he acknowledged troubling questions about the investigation. Cornell is one of the co-defendants alongside the sorority and the fraternity. Doe's complaint argues that the university promoted Greek membership as a "vital" part of campus life and endorsed these organisations as well-managed pathways to friendships and opportunities. The case has sparked protests across the country and kept the story in national headlines.

Wider debate over fraternities

The North American Interfraternity Conference (NIC) represents 58 fraternities at 600 schools and claims nearly 200,000 undergraduate members and an alumni population of 4.2 million. Critics argue that some fraternities have used their exclusivity to encourage and normalise violence, offering social acceptance as a reward for compliance. Aldo Cimino, a Kent State University anthropologist who studies fraternity hazing, described the stakes of membership:

It is the seriousness of the affiliation that has generated the intensity of these induction rituals.

Paul Ortiz, a Cornell labour history professor, told Franceinfo that the case is far from isolated and that he has been approached by students, former students and employees with accounts of sexual assault on campus. He said some fraternities function as gangs and should be closed, because they encourage dangerous levels of criminality, including underage alcohol abuse and drug use.