Marcellus Wiley, the former Dallas Cowboy and ESPN analyst, has been named as the defendant in a troubling lawsuit. An Ivy League professor alleges that Wiley "raped her multiple times in her dorm room" while they were both attending Columbia in 1994. “[Wiley’s] actions were intentionally designed to cause plaintiff severe emotional distress or were taken with reckless disregard of the significant and/or substantial probability of causing plaintiff severe emotional distress,” the lawsuit reads. Furthermore, the victim alleges that she attempted to report Wiley at the time but was rebuffed by school administrators. The victim claimed administrators "expressed a fondness for Wiley" and tried to convince her that "the event was a misunderstanding".
At the time, Wiley was placed on "academic probation" for "poor grades". However, more students would come forward with similar allegations about Wiley, but none of the accusations went anywhere. As a result, Columbia is also named in the suit for their “callous, negligent, reckless and deceptive response to, and handling of, plaintiff’s and other students’ allegations was an unconscionable revictimization of the plaintiff, which caused psychological injuries, financial and academic damages.”
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Cuba Gooding Jr Sued
The lawsuit against Wiley was filed under New York's Adult Survivors Act. The act is a state law that lets women sue their alleged abusers beyond the initial statute of limitations for the crimes in question. However, the law is set to expire tomorrow. Other high-profile cases under this law include the recent suits against Axl Rose, Russell Brand, and Diddy. Also being sued is Cuba Gooding Jr, who was sued by two women earlier this week.
Jasmine Abbay accused Gooding Jr of "forcibly kissing her without consent" when she was working as a cocktail waitress in midtown Manhattan in September 2018. Meanwhile, Kelsey Herbert claimed Gooding Jr "groped her breast" at a different Midtown bar in June 2019. “Our clients were deprived of the justice they sought in the criminal case. They are now seeking justice and accountability in their civil cases", said the plaintiffs' lawyer, Gloria Allred. Allred has risen to prominence in recent years, representing clients in cases against Bill Cosby and Donald Trump.
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