TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (Legal Newsline) - A transgender woman put through the disciplinary process at Florida State University is suing the school over the distress and financial harm it allegedly caused.
In a lawsuit filed May 7 in Leon County Circuit Court in the Second Judicial Circuit, Deia Medley-Neyra, a transgender woman, is suing The Board of Trustees for Florida State University. Medley-Neyra alleges that the university failed to provide adequate protection and support after she was sexually assaulted by her roommate, Kyono Knox, a transgender man.
The plaintiff claims that she has been diagnosed with depression, dysthymia, generalized anxiety disorder, and PTSD since age 16 due to traumatic events. Her condition requires significant accommodations within her educational process which were provided by the university, the suit says.
Medley-Neyra met Knox in October 2019 and they developed a friendly relationship. During the fall semester break, she allowed Knox to stay with her as he was homeless at the time, the suit says.
After losing romantic interest in Knox due to his excessive alcohol consumption and violent behavior when intoxicated among other factors, Medley-Neyra communicated her preference for a platonic friendship, she alleges.
On May 29, 2020, after attending a protest at the state courthouse together where Knox displayed destructive behavior leading to law enforcement intervention, Knox displayed sexual aggression towards Medley-Neyra at their residence, she says. She called the Tallahassee Police Department while Knox was attempting to force entry into her room, she says.
Knox filed a Title IX complaint against Medley-Neyra, but she says the file emailed to her was corrupted, "contributing to her lack of understanding of the situation."
An accommodation for her disability was denied, she says. In October 2021, she engaged in an information session on Zoom, during which she says her claims of due process violations and retaliation were dismissed.
Florida State also wouldn't let her retain her lawyer, she claims. Ultimately, she was cleared of Knox's accusations but her mental health deteriorated and she was unable to register for classes, she says.
Marie Mattox represents the plaintiff.