A former Colorado State University student stated in a lawsuit that the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity was negligent and didn’t protect her on Oct. 4 and 5, 2024, the night she said one of its members raped her at the fraternity house.
The plaintiff filed a lawsuit last week against the Phi Delta Theta Fraternity at CSU, claiming it was negligent when fraternity members didn’t provide her reasonable care as a guest at its party, including by failing to enforce its own risk management policies that night.
The plaintiff said she was given a glass of what she was told was water at the house party, but it immediately made her feel like she was going to lose consciousness. After leaving the party, the victim, who was already intoxicated, said a then-CSU student raped her.
The defendant, who the Reporter-Herald is not naming because he has not been criminally charged, could not be reached for comment Monday.
The plaintiff also says that she asked the man to take her back to her sorority house, but he told the designated sober driver to take them both back to the fraternity house, where the man led her up to his bedroom and raped her, according to the complaint.
The plaintiff said she was going in and out of consciousness and could not consent to engage in any sexual activity with the man, the complaint stated.
The man walked her out of the fraternity house about an hour later, and she left on foot just after 2 a.m. Oct. 5, 2024, but couldn’t find her way home, according to the complaint. She called a friend for help, and when the friend arrived, they described the plaintiff as crying and in pain.
“That friend then texted another mutual friend, ‘i got her…she was just raped…she is crying in my arms,’” according to the complaint.
A sexual assault nurse examiner who examined the woman on Oct. 6, 2024, said her injuries were consistent with a sexual assault.
The victim filed a Title IX complaint against the man on March 14, 2025, and he was found responsible for violating the university’s policy that prohibits sexual assault. The man was suspended on July 16, 2026, for one year, according to an emailed CSU statement.
The man won’t be allowed to seek readmission to CSU until he has completed his suspension, a required behavioral health assessment, and any recommended clinical treatment, according to the emailed CSU statement.
The fraternity suspended the man on Oct. 17, 2024, for conduct unworthy of a member of Phi Delta Theta after an anonymous report was filed, according to a timeline provided by the national Phi Delta Theta organization. He moved out of the chapter house and was barred from participating in chapter activities, according to the timeline.
The chapter provided security camera footage to Title IX investigators, participated in interviews, and cooperated with law enforcement requests, according to the timeline.
After the man appealed in July and CSU denied it in September, the national organization expelled him, according to the timeline. No other referrals for disciplinary action were made against other students in the chapter during the Title IX investigation, the timeline added.
CSU Police did not investigate the assault because it happened off-campus under Fort Collins Police Services’ jurisdiction, the university wrote in its statement.
Although CSU conducted its own investigation and hearings into the Title IX complaint, the investigation’s details and the discussion during the live hearing that led to the man’s suspension were not stated in the release.
“The university’s student conduct process is separate from that criminal process and uses a different standard of proof,” the CSU email stated. Any documents related to the university’s investigation were not available Monday.
No criminal charges have been filed against the man, according to court records.
Fort Collins police conferred with the 8th Judicial District Attorney’s Office about its investigation into the sexual assault, but it never requested charges be brought against the man, spokesperson Kylie Massman wrote in an email.
In an emailed statement, police department officials said it takes sexual assault reports seriously and is committed to ensuring allegations are handled with care, investigated, and that victims are supported. The Reporter-Herald filed a record request for the case report. The timeline provided by the fraternity stated the chapter gave police its security footage and other requested information on Nov. 1, 2024, as part of an investigation.
In the civil complaint, the plaintiff alleges assault and battery for causing her harm; false imprisonment for when the man restricted her movement in the vehicle by taking her to the fraternity house instead of her sorority as she requested; and outrageous conduct for exceeding all possible bounds of decency for raping her while she was incapacitated.
The plaintiff suffered and will continue to suffer from physical injuries as a result of the alleged assault, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, and other emotional and psychological harm, the complaint stated.
“Plaintiff became unable to continue attending classes or being present on the CSU campus and, as a result, was forced to withdraw from and transfer away from CSU,” the complaint stated.
Another student is named in the complaint for his alleged negligence as the sober driver because he never asked her directly where she wanted to go after leaving the party, it states.
The plaintiff also alleges the national Phi Delta Theta organization was negligent because it was responsible for overseeing the services and safety at individual chapters, according to the complaint.
She also claimed the owners of the rental property where the party occurred and the five unknown CSU student renters are liable because they knew or should have known of the dangerous conditions they were creating at their premises by hosting large events with alcohol and allowing an incapacitated guest to be removed from the party with a member she had just met.
Several other unnamed students who were listed in the complaint for negligence and premises liability claims, including the unknown student who provided the clear liquid, have not been identified by the plaintiff. Their identities may be revealed through additional investigation, the complaint stated.
The damages she requested in the complaint are to cover past and future medical, psychological, and counseling care; past and future physical and mental pain; past and future loss of income; mental anguish and severe emotional distress; the cost and losses associated with her withdrawal and transfer from CSU; and pre- and post-judgment costs as determined by the jury.
The plaintiff demanded a jury trial. The next scheduled court appearance is a review at 7 a.m. Nov. 12 in 8th Judicial District Court in Fort Collins, according to court records.
