Lawyers for nine students suing Syracuse University in federal court over disciplinary decisions related to last spring’s controversial Theta Tau videos have filed a motion to drop the lawsuit, according to documents filed in court this weekend.

The motion, if approved by a judge, could allow the students in the federal lawsuit to consolidate their claims in a state lawsuit filed in Jefferson County Supreme Court in August, court records show.

The motion to dismiss the federal lawsuit is the latest development in a months-long courtroom battle that began soon after SU permanently expelled the Theta Tau fraternity for its involvement in the creation of videos showing behaviors Chancellor Kent Syverud has called “extremely racist, anti-Semitic, homophobic, sexist, and hostile to people with disabilities.” The fraternity chapter, in an April statement, said the videos depicted a “satirical sketch.”

Five students involved in the videos anonymously sued the university soon after the release of the videos, claiming SU labeled them as “criminals” in an attempt to malign them “personally” to salvage its reputation, court documents show. Four students joined the federal lawsuit in July. The students in the lawsuit request $1 million each and that their disciplinary records be cleared.

Lawyers defending SU in the federal suit are trying to prevent the lawsuit from being dropped in part because the federal court and parties involved “have expended significant resources, time, and effort” in the federal litigation, according to court documents.

In August, 10 students involved in the videos filed a second lawsuit against SU in New York state court, claiming the university unfairly punished them for violations of its Code of Student Conduct. SU suspended more than a dozen students for one or two years in connection to the videos.

Students in both lawsuits are being represented by Karen Felter, Kevin Hulslander and David Katz — all attorneys at the Syracuse-based branch of the Smith, Sovik, Kendrick and Sugnet law firm.

The lawyers filed the state lawsuit as an Article 78 proceeding, a provision of New York state law that allows judges to make decisions on the fairness of a private institution’s internal processes, including student conduct proceedings.

Unlike the first lawsuit, students in the Jefferson County suit aren’t claiming $1 million in damages. They only want their suspensions reversed and their records wiped clean, according to court documents.

SU’s legal team in court documents has accused the students’ legal team of “forum-shopping.”

James McClusky, a Jefferson County Supreme Court judge, signed an order in late August prohibiting SU from enforcing disciplinary action against students involved in the state lawsuit before a hearing on Sept. 19. At least two students, whom the university found guilty of “serious violations” of the Code of Student Conduct, have enrolled in SU classes as a result of the order, according to court documents.

A hearing in the federal suit is scheduled for 10 a.m. Wednesday, according to court records.

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Published on September 4, 2018 at 11:21 pm

Contact Jordan: jmulle01@syr.edu | @jordanmuller18