The student’s unpleasant encounter occurred in an elevator of the campus parking garage in February 2016. In 2017, she filed a lawsuit seeking $15,000 in damages. Martha Rhine | The Crow’s Nest
By Emily Wunderlich
A Pinellas County circuit judge has ruled in the university’s favor in a lawsuit alleging negligence by the university and its police department after a female student was accosted in the campus parking garage in 2016.
But it might not be over yet.
In the ruling dated Sept. 21, Judge Thomas H. Minkoff granted the university’s motion to dismiss the case “in part” and gave the plaintiff — identified in court documents as L.E. — 30 days to amend her argument.
The suit, filed in 2017, seeks $15,000 in damages because the university “failed to provide adequate security” or warn L.E. of past and potential crimes in the area before she was “sexually assaulted” in 2016 by a man who masturbated behind her in a parking garage elevator.
But the university, which acknowledges that L.E. was a victim of “lewdness and/or indecent exposure,” denies she was sexually assaulted under the definitions of federal law.
It argued for the dismissal of the lawsuit because –– as an agency of state government –– the university is protected by “sovereign immunity.”
The doctrine of sovereign immunity stems from a longstanding tenet of English law that the sovereign – or government – can do no wrong.
The university held that its discretionary or “planning-level” functions were immune from liability and that L.E. “failed to plea any basic facts” to show that USF owed a duty to protect her.
It also called L.E.’s complaint “redundant and immaterial” because it attempted to sue both the university and its police department, which operate under the USF Board of Trustees.
L.E. is represented by attorney Damian Mallard, of Sarasota. Because he is in trial this week, his office said, he was unavailable to comment on the judge’s ruling.
What happened
Although the woman is identified as L.E. in the lawsuit, some court documents fail to redact her name. She could not be reached for comment, but her social media indicates that she graduated from the university last year. The Crow’s Nest does not name victims of sex-related crimes.
Around 4:20 p.m. on Feb. 22, 2016, L.E. was leaving campus after class when she noticed a man masturbating behind her in one of the parking garage elevators.
When the elevator stopped on the fourth floor, a police report says, L.E. “felt a breeze behind her and something wet touch her buttocks area.” Security video later showed the man bending behind her, “possibly recording her personal groin area … and lifting her dress from behind.”
The man was identified as Willie Fudge III, a non-student of the university who lived nearby and was reported on campus three other times that week.
Campus police caught up with Fudge several days later, when St. Petersburg police arrested him on a charge of domestic battery against his former girlfriend that was later dropped.
Fudge was arrested seven days after the parking garage incident and was charged with one count of exposure of sexual organs, a misdemeanor, and four counts of battery, for touching a person against her will. But he was not charged with sexual assault.
The parking garage charges, plus an earlier conviction for grand theft, landed Fudge in the Pinellas County Jail between May 27, 2016, and Feb. 27, 2017.
He was returned to jail July 3 for violating his probation and then sentenced to 18 months in state prison, with credit for time served in the county jail. The Florida Department of Corrections indicates he was released Feb. 27, 2018.
University police recommend that students, faculty and staff walk with others whenever possible. They should secure their belongings, be alert to their surroundings and avoid distractions. They should also have a plan and trust their instincts if they notice something suspicious.
To report suspicious people and incidents, students, faculty and staff can call (727) 873-4444.
This story was updated on Oct. 7
