A state appeals court has ruled that a law suit against the University of Washington for mishandling a sexual assault claim against one of their football player can proceed to trial. The survivor has already settled with the accused assailant, now an NFL player and part of the same Rosebowl winning team whose misdeeds the Seattle Times covered a couple of weeks ago. But her allegations against UW are, if anything, more frightening.

She claims she was pressured not to report the crime to the police or on the record to the school, that insinuations were made that she would lose her job in the athletic department if she reported the crime, that her claim was “resolved” in a mediation session with the attacker (!!!) and one of the athletic department staff (because of course the football program’s interests outweighed the student’s) in which she was told he would not be suspended from playing because it would draw unwanted media attention, and that she was never referred to UW’s sexual assault services (probably because somebody there might actually have tried to help her).

I’m thrilled that the court has found that there is “ample evidence” to proceed to a jury trial; having fought for six years to have someone at UW care about what happened to her, this survivor deserves to have her story heard.