Jury Awards $4 Million to Ex-Student Who Claimed Pacific University Mishandled Sexual Assault Complaint Against Him

A Washington County jury has awarded nearly $4 million to a former Pacific University student who said the school improperly handled allegations that he sexually assaulted another student.

Peter Steele, who enrolled in Pacific’s doctorate in psychology program in 2016, was suspended by the school in 2020 after a female student told school officials that he sexually and physically assaulted her. Steele maintains that his relationship with the woman was consensual and he did not assault her.

Steele and the woman settled competing claims against each other before Steele’s case against Pacific went to trial, Steele’s lawyer Kevin Sali said. The terms of that settlement are confidential, Sali said.

Read the source article at The Orgonian