Lawsuit: University Counselor Betrays Falsely Accused Student

When a feminist counselor has a vendetta against men

Lady Justice/ Historical Society of New York Courts

A doctoral dental student at the University of Michigan got more than he bargained for when he confided in his school counselor about a false sexual assault allegation that he faced while he was in undergrad.

According to a recent lawsuit, Doe saw a university psychiatrist who diagnosed him with ADHD and gave him a script for Mydasis, an ADHD med similar to Adderall.

Later, Taryn Bailey Andersen, Doe’s school counselor for his ADHD, allegedly asked Doe about his past relationships in one of their sessions. Simple question, right?

For Doe — this was difficult to answer.

Doe confided that he was falsely accused of assault by a Baylor University student before he got to grad school. The claim was dropped after the university couldn’t find any corroborating evidence. In some of his sessions, Doe expressed a hangover of shame from his stalking incident that tortured his thoughts.

In a cruel pivot, Andersen allegedly zeroed in on Doe. She was supposed to help him, not hurt him. Again, there was no evidence that Doe had actually assaulted anyone, but his new counselor (whose superior’s job was to investigate sexual misconduct and rape claims) seemed to have a vendetta against him.

But Andersen allegedly threw the rules of confidentiality out with the bathwater and went above and beyond her normal responsibilities to try to get Doe expelled.

In her quest, Andersen called up records offices and even Doe’s fellow classmates to try to get dirt on the young man. She couldn’t find anything except a chatlog where Doe spoke about masculinity and “alpha, beta and omega males.”

Andersen, the school official, did not agree with Doe’s assessment of masculinity and continued pushing a narrative that Doe was a stalker. Doe fell into a trap.

Further, Andersen allegedly sought to damage Doe’s reputation.

Andersen “left numerous messages for John’s psychiatrist, Dr. Silverman, including a voice mail message asking if Dr. Silverman had decided to move forward with ‘involuntary hospitalization.’ Silveri asked Dr. Silverman if he could write a letter stating that John was ‘unfit’ for dental school.”

But the doctor said Doe was fine. So Andersen took it upon herself to cast Doe as “unfit” for dental school, in another attempt to destroy his reputation.. Her supervisor Dr. Silveri, finally caved and said “we will proceed with an “involuntary leave of absence”.

“This ultimately resulted in the student being placed on “indefinite leave” — effectively a dismissal from the program” according to Jonathan Taylor, founder of Title IX for All, a nonprofit that advocates for due process in Title IX (sexual misconduct) investigations.

WHY MEN SHOULD BE WARY OF SCHOOL OFFICIALS

This case is a “cautionary tale for accused students who seek the services of counselors when the direct supervisors of those counselors are Title IX officers — something we advise against,” says Taylor.

Secondly, Taylor observes, this case “highlights what can happen when university personnel ‘go rogue’, the damage it can inflict on the lives of wrongly accused students, and what little recourse is available to them”.

“Men should know that the schools have these Title IX offices. They should know that any accusation of assault, stalking, or rape might be reported. This is a good thing for offenders, but a bad thing for young men who are falsely accused” he added.

PRAYER FOR RELIEF

Rebecca Federico, Litigation Counsel at Nesenoff & Miltenberg, tells me that Doe hopes to return to higher education once he wins his suit. Currently, due to the false accusation, he cannot transfer into another school.

”John Doe wishes to pursue his education to become a dentist, as it his dream to do so. His demands in pursuing this litigation include, but are not limited to, removal of this wrongful mark from his record and compensatory damages” Federico told me.

"What makes this case unique is the way the entry-level social worker pursued her own unauthorized investigation into John Doe under the guise of merely inviting John Doe to ‘stop by and chat.’ It is horrifying that she weaponized what John Doe confided in her in her capacity as a therapist to pursue her own agenda against him.

THE IMPORTANCE OF DUE PROCESS

Ed Bartlett Ph.D, President of SAVE SERVICES — has dedicated his life to helping wrongfully accused men. His nonprofit is only one of a handful in the USA advocating for due process rights for college students.

According to Bartlett, most wrongfully accused students can never return to academia. This is why Doe is suing. The counselor who confabulated the claim that Doe was a stalker has made it nearly impossible for Doe to go back to school to become a dentist.

As Bartlett always tells me, men should be careful.

“A finding of ‘responsibility’ for sexual misconduct has become the new Scarlet Letter of our society”, Bartlett has said.

“The impact on a young man’s life are difficult to fathom for a person who is not familiar with such cases first-hand: blocked educational opportunities, lifelong stigmatization, and even suicide risk.”

Doe likely will be facing some of these problems, like blocked educational opportunities, and that’s why it’s so crucial that he gets another trial that is fair and that allows him to represent himself fully.

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