Bubu Palo sues Iowa State over rape allegation handling

A former Iowa State University athlete who faced a rape allegation has filed a lawsuit accusing the school of botching the case against him and ultimately limiting his chances to play professional basketball.

The lawsuit brought by Bubu Palo accuses university officials of using the school's student disciplinary process to wrongly punish him, even after a felony sexual abuse case against the basketball player was dropped. Among other allegations, the lawsuit claims ISU President Steven Leath used the disciplinary process to ruin Palo's chances of being able to transfer to another school.

The case made the Ames High School graduate a "pariah" in the community and has cost him thousands of dollars in legal fees, despite the fact that judges repeatedly found insufficient evidence that he violated the university's student conduct code, attorneys Michael Sellers and Trent Nelson wrote in the complaint.

The lawsuit names the university and Iowa Board of Regents, and includes claims for tortious interference, breach of contract and pain and suffering.

"Mr. Palo was exposed to public scrutiny and media coverage that was the direct result of the persistent efforts of ISU officials to prevent Mr. Palo from playing basketball for ISU and comments made by ISU officials to media sources about Mr. Palo," the complaint reads. "These actions on the part of ISU gave credibility to the unfounded allegations made against Mr. Palo and caused him a great deal of stress during that period."

Palo began his basketball career as a point guard at ISU, redshirting during the 2009-2010 season after playing for an Ames High School team that won a 2009 state title. He played in all 32 games played by the ISU basketball team during the 2010-2011 season.

Palo was charged with felony sexual abuse in September 2012 after a female student reported to police that she'd been raped by Palo and a friend in an off-campus residence.

But the criminal case against Palo was dropped because of inconsistent statements made by the accuser. An administrative law judge who reviewed the case during university's student disciplinary process found ISU did not have "sufficient evidence" showing the basketball player committed a violation.

The administrative law judge's decision was appealed to Leath, who issued his own opinion on Aug. 30, 2013, finding that Palo violated student conduct codes and barring him from playing on the team.

That decision came after the deadline had passed for Palo to transfer to another school and remain eligible to play basketball, a move that the lawsuit contends was used to punish Palo.

"President Leath's late decision was an arbitrary finding in both its punitive justification and in timing," the lawsuit said.

The board of regents and university have not filed an answer to the complaint, which was filed March 21 in Story County District Court, records show.

A district court judge and the Iowa Court of Appeals both overturned the president's decision after finding insufficient evidence that a violation occurred.

Palo was re-instated to the basketball team by a court order in January 2014, but he was relegated to the bench and did not play. The lawsuit claims the case "destroyed" opportunities Palo might have had to play in professional leagues, though he joined the NBA D-league Sioux Falls Skyforce team last year.

"The opportunities that were inappropriately stripped from Mr. Palo haunt him because more exposure, experience and the ability to participate in the ISU basketball program would have resulted in better post-graduate employment opportunities," the lawsuit reads.

In a short statement released through email, ISU spokesperson John McCarroll said the school denies the allegations made in Palo's lawsuit.

"The basic premise of Mr. Palo's lawsuit is that he would have had a more successful professional basketball career if the university had not suspended him," said McCarroll, the executive director of the office of university relations. "However, that it is pure speculation, and it is not the job of courts to engage in speculation."

Palo's lawsuit was first reported in the alternative weekly newspaper Cityview.