Student sues SMU after he was suspended over ‘flirtatious joke’ involving a piece of poultry

A student is suing Southern Methodist University after it suspended him this semester following what the lawsuit calls an “innocent joke” involving a cut of poultry — a “cleaned and filleted dove breast” he left outside a neighbor’s door.

The lawsuit, filed in a Dallas County district court Nov. 17, alleges that the university overreacted to the incident and then breached its contract with the student — who is given the pseudonym John Doe in court documents — by failing to provide him a fair conduct hearing as laid out in the university’s student handbook.

The 18-year-old freshman and his mother, listed in court documents as Jane Doe, are seeking an injunction to prevent the school from barring the student from campus and completing his courses, as well as unspecified monetary damages.

University spokeswoman Kim Cobb said SMU’s policy “is not to comment on pending litigation but to respond in court.”

Rogge Dunn, an attorney who is representing the student, said he had no comment on the case.

Dorm antics

The events began, the lawsuit says, in early October when the student’s neighbor slipped a note under his door complaining about his having a “loud ass” party in his room at 3 a.m. on a Tuesday. The student’s roommate had been playing guitar, the lawsuit says.

The student responded with a note apologizing for the noise and included his Instagram user name in the message.

Later that day, the student received a request from his neighbor to follow him on Instagram, which he accepted, and he followed her back. This led him to believe they “were on friendly terms,” the lawsuit says.

Soon thereafter, the student decided to play a “flirtatious joke” on his neighbor, the lawsuit says.

Having learned that his neighbor was majoring in biology, “he thought it would be humorous” to place the dove breast outside her door, according to the lawsuit, in hopes the two could “share a laugh and perhaps talk about things they had in common,” such as his love of the outdoors.

He placed a “washed, rinsed and pristine ‘ready for the grill’ ” piece of meat outside his neighbor’s door, according to the lawsuit. It was “in no way bloody, sinewy or offensive,” the lawsuit stresses.

About 3:30 a.m. Oct. 14, three resident assistants noticed the dove breast but thought it was a scrap of fruit, perhaps a plum, the lawsuit says. It wasn’t until shortly after 5 p.m. that the neighbor alerted a resident assistant to “an animal part” outside her door and the RA notified campus police.

Suspension, hearing

The following day, the university notified the student that he had violated its code of conduct with regard to harassment and irresponsible conduct, the lawsuit says. He was also accused of failing to wear a mask in public areas, but the lawsuit says he had followed all COVID-19 protocols.

The student, a Highland Park High School graduate whose family lives about a mile from campus, had no previous conduct issues, according to the lawsuit.

He was temporarily suspended and was given until 5 p.m. to pack up his belongings and vacate his dorm room.

Subsequently, the lawsuit alleges, SU did not follow its policies on conduct hearings, in part by failing to provide the student written reports of the incident in a timely manner. As a result of the hearing, the university suspended him from Oct. 23 through May 1, and his tuition and other fees were not refunded.

The lawsuit calls this punishment draconian and says the student will suffer irreparable harm if he is unable to complete his coursework for the semester.

The lawsuit also emphatically asserts that the student’s neighbor did not feel harassed, because she has not blocked him on Instagram and continues to follow his account.

SMU’s student handbook lays out a process for requesting to appeal the result of a conduct hearing; it is unclear whether the student availed himself of that opportunity.

A judge granted a temporary restraining order against SMU on Nov. 18, court records show. The order prevents the university from prohibiting the student from being on campus and completing his courses.

A hearing on whether a temporary injunction should be granted in the case is scheduled for Dec. 2.