On Jan. 9, 2002, a court action was filed against Oberlin College by an employee using the pseudonym Jane Doe at Lorain County Common Pleas Court. The action, which was filed as a complaint for over $25,000 and demands a trial by jury, is in reference to an alleged rape that occurred last year outside Drag Ball and claims that Oberlin College was “negligent in employing and maintaining as a police and security officer a known sexual predator, namely Quinn Barbee.” The case is predicted on Doe’s claim that last April 14, Barbee, while working as a security guard for the night’s campus event, “brutally attacked and raped plaintiff causing her severe physical and emotional injury.”
The College believes the lawsuit has no basis. “The case is totally, positively without merit,” Vice President of College Relations Alan Moran said. Jim Niehaus, the attorney responsible for handling the case on behalf of the College, revealed that the college first received a letter of intent to sue from the victim’s attorney in the summer of 2001. After investigating the claims, he concluded that there was no basis for a case and invited the victim’s lawyer to share any new evidence. Niehaus did not hear any more about the case until the court action was filed. “There is absolutely no factual basis whatsoever to the allegation that anyone involved in this case is a sexual predator,” he said.
The alleged rape referrred to in the lawsuit took place at approximately 10:30 p.m. on April 14, 2001 during the College’s largest annual event, Drag Ball. Barbee was an on-duty security officer at the event when the incident occurred in the parking lot of Wilder Hall. The victim, who remains an employee of the college, filed an official complaint with the Oberlin Police Department who then escorted the victim to the Nord Rape Crisis Center. No charges were brought against the alleged rapist. After investigating the incident, Oberlin Police sent the case to Lorain County Grand Jury Prosecutor, Greg White, who dismissed the case because of insufficient evidence.
The Office of Safety and Security was notified by Oberlin Police of the reported rape, prompting the office to “immediately put him on suspension,” said Safety and Security Director Robert Jones. After conducting an investigation, Safety and Security referred the matter over to Human Resources.
According to the Morning Journal, “Quinn Barbee was terminated after an internal investigation regarding his job performance, which was not connected to the rape allegation” Dean of Students Peter Goldsmith said. He was accused of behavior unbeffiting a security officerfor having sexual contact with the victim, and was consequently fired independent of the rape allegation.
“The city police immediately notified the College’s director of security that the suspect was a college security officer. This officer was relieved of his duties immediately. After an internal investigation, the director of security terminated the officer in question, and also issued a ‘no trespass’ order which bars him permanently from this campus,” President Nancy Dye said in a letter to the editor of the Oberlin Review dated May 10, 2001. At no time does the letter mention that the investigation was not connected to the alleged rape.
The ‘no trespass’ order mentioned by President Dye is not usual practice for the college when terminating a position because a “policy or practice of the college has been violated,” Director of Human Resources Ruth Spencer said. “It’s a case-by-case decision.” General Policy mandates that “if there is a real possibility of harm to an employee the college may choose to place someone on the no-trespass list,” Spencer said. Because of a percieved threat by the victim, Barbee was banned from the college campus.

The college’s Sexual Assault Policy normally requires a complaint of sexual assault to be brought to the Administrator and a Formal Panel hearing. In this case, however, because the victim did not file a complaint with the Administrator’s office and because the college had already fired Barbee for a breach of college policy, the Sexual Assault Policy was not enacted.

The implication of hiring negligence raised by the suit is fiercly disputed by the college. The college administers background checks to any potential employee who will either live with students or will have “access to significant assests of the college. This includes security officers,” said Spencer. The checks include criminal records, previous employent, and references.

Quinn Barbee currently works as a prison guard for the Grafton Correctional Institute. He is also assistant football coach and head junior varsity girls’ basketball coach at Oberlin High School. According to Jones, prior to the Drag Ball incident, Barbee had a “good work record.” Captain Tom Miller of the Oberlin Police said Barbee did not have an arrest record in Oberlin.
A Quincy Ramon Barbee of Lorain was convicted of burglary, a felony, in 1996, in a case brought against him by the state of Ohio.
Although the President’s Office of Oberlin College was served a copy of the complaint on Jan. 17 via registered mail, due to a filing mix-up that office was only made aware of the suit on Thursday, Feb. 14. The college’s attorney, however, was aware of the suit and handling it as necessary.