Duke sues insurer over lacrosse settlement
Published: Tue, Nov. 25, 2008 05:09PM
Modified Tue, Nov. 25, 2008 05:12PM
E-Mail
Print
tool name
closeDURHAM -- Duke University is suing its insurance company for refusing to pay any of the settlement costs for the Duke lacrosse case.
In federal court papers filed Monday, Duke is seeking financial relief from National Union Fire Insurance Co. of Pittsburgh, an affiliate of insurance giant AIG.
The case stems from gang-rape allegations that an escort service dancer lodged against three players after a lacrosse team party in June 2006.
More Local & State
Before all the facts were gathered and any criminal charges were filed, Duke suspended the lacrosse team's season.
The criminal case against the three players crumbled quickly over the next year.
In April 2007, State Attorney General Roy Cooper dismissed all charges against the three and declared that there was no evidence of an assault at the party.
In June 2007, Duke entered a settlement agreement with the three players. Neither side has disclosed the terms of the settlement.
"Duke believes that our insurance companies should meet their obligations, and we will pursue all options available to us," Michael Schoenfeld, vice president for public affairs and government relations at Duke, said in a statement.
"While Duke sought to address this without resorting to a lawsuit, we were not able to reach a satisfactory outcome and thus turn to the courts."
anne.blythe@newsobserver.com or (919) 932-8741
Get it all with convenient home delivery of The News & Observer.
The News & Observer is pleased to be able to offer its users the opportunity to make comments and hold conversations online. However, the interactive nature of the internet makes it impracticable for our staff to monitor each and every posting.
Since The News & Observer does not control user submitted statements, we cannot promise that readers will not occasionally find offensive or inaccurate comments posted on our website. In addition, we remind anyone interested in making an online comment that responsibility for statements posted lies with the person submitting the comment, not The News and Observer.
If you find a comment offensive, clicking on the exclamation icon will flag the comment for review by the administrators, we are counting on the good judgment of all our readers to help us.
