No. 21-1227

JOHN DOE,

Plaintiff, Appellant,

v.

STONEHILL COLLEGE, INC.,

Defendant, Appellee.

APPEAL FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE DISTRICT OF MASSACHUSETTS

[Hon. Leo T. Sorokin, U.S. District Judge]

Before

Gelpí, Lipez, and Howard, Circuit Judges.

Timothy C. Woodcock, with whom Janna L. Gau and Eaton Peabody were on brief, for appellant.

Christopher M. Iaquinto, with whom Philip J. Catanzano, Timothy D. Andrea, and Holland & Knight LLP were on brief, for appellee.

December 14, 2022 LIPEZ, Circuit Judge. John Doe was expelled from Stonehill College for violating its sexual misconduct policy by engaging in "nonconsensual sexual intercourse." Seeking redress for what he alleges was an unfair and biased disciplinary process, Doe filed suit against Stonehill asserting, inter alia, breach of contract, sex discrimination in violation of Title IX, negligence, and defamation. In a thoughtful decision, the district court concluded that Doe's allegations were insufficient to support any of his claims, and it dismissed his complaint in its entirety pursuant to Federal Rule of Civil Procedure 12(b)(6). Doe v. Stonehill Coll., Inc., No. 20-10468-LTS, 2021 WL 706228 (D. Mass. Feb. 23, 2021), at *1. After review of the operative complaint and related materials, we reverse dismissal of the breach-of- contract claim but otherwise affirm the decision of the district court.

I.

Because Doe appeals the dismissal of his complaint, "we rehearse the facts as they appear in the plaintiff['s] complaint[] (including documents incorporated by reference therein)." Hochendoner v. Genzyme Corp., 823 F.3d 724, 728 (1st Cir. 2016). Here, we consider Doe's complaint, Stonehill's sexual misconduct policy -- titled "S1.14 Opposition to Sexual and Gender-Based Misconduct and Interpersonal Violence" ("the policy" or "the

- 2 - sexual misconduct policy"1) -- and documents produced as part of Stonehill's investigation into Doe's conduct.2 A. The Relationship between John Doe and Jane Roe

Doe was admitted to Stonehill's class of 2021 in the spring of 2017. He subsequently joined a Facebook group for his class, where he met Jane Roe. They began to exchange messages through Snapchat, text, and Facebook. Once on campus, they continued to exchange messages and saw each other in person numerous times.

In October 2017, the pair's relationship "grew to include sexual intimacy." Compl. ¶ 35. The complaint describes three sexual encounters prior to the incident at the heart of this case. Each involved Doe "us[ing] his fingers to stimulate" Roe, with Roe "physically communicat[ing] her consent by removing her clothing, allowing him to fondle her and to rub her bare skin, and by making her vagina more accessible to him." Id. ¶ 38; see also id. ¶¶ 41, 44. In at least the first two encounters, Doe asked Roe "if she wanted him to proceed" after he had already been

1 We refer to "the sexual misconduct policy" for simplicity, although the policy has broader coverage. 2 The policy and the investigation documents were attached to Doe's amended complaint, Stonehill's motion to dismiss, or Doe's opposition, and they were considered by the district court with the parties' acquiescence. See Stonehill Coll., 2021 WL 706228, at *1 & n.2. Neither party challenges the authenticity of these documents or argues that their consideration at this stage is improper.