EUGENE, Ore. — Lane Community College has settled a lawsuit filed by an instructor who was stalked by a male student who told her he had links to neo-Nazis, agreeing to pay the instructor $175,000 and improve its campus security plans.
Nadia Raza told The Register-Guard she filed the lawsuit as a last resort, after telling administrators about escalating problems with a student who enrolled in her race and ethnicity class in January 2014.
In an early assignment, the student wrote that he was affiliated with neo-Nazis and wanted to meet her off campus, the lawsuit said. The harassment continued on and off of the college’s Eugene campus for months, the lawsuit stated.
The student, identified in the lawsuit only by his initials, was charged with trespassing in May 2014 after he twice went to an apartment building while looking for Raza.
“I followed the process at Lane, and I exhausted it,” Raza said after the settlement. “That process didn’t work.”
School officials released a statement November 3 acknowledging the stalking as “a heinous situation that no one should have to endure.”
The student contacted several other female LCC instructors via email with what the lawsuit said contained “disturbing and delusional” messages, including one in which he claimed a large corporation was keeping him under surveillance. The student was eventually banned from campus.
In settling the case, LCC agreed to hire a firm to create a safety plan for Raza. The agreement also calls for it to hire a police officer to review campus-wide safety and give school officials recommendations for improvements.
Raza will receive a check for $93,791, while her lawyers will get a check for $63,209, the settlement agreement said.
An additional $18,000 payment will be made to Raza’s retirement account. School spokeswoman Joan Aschim said insurance will cover most of the cost.
