Attorneys for the University of Michigan and Andrew Lipian, a former School of Music, Theatre & Dance graduate student, have filed a protective order, according to a court filing on Tuesday. The agreement would allow both parties to designate certain case-related materials as confidential, meaning the information does not have to be filed in the public record.
In his lawsuit, Lipian alleges University of Michigan professor of opera David Daniels and his husband Scott Walters sexually assaulted and harassed him. Lipian also accuses the University of neglecting multiple allegations of sexual misconduct by Daniels.
In an interview with The Daily, Lipian’s attorney Deborah Gordon said the protective order is “standard operating procedure.”
“Everybody has protective orders now … In my world, protective orders nowadays come with almost every single case I do,” Gordon said. “In these kinds of cases, I’m asking U-M to hand over certain documents, but they wouldn’t want to hand out people’s personnel files, financial records … A lot of the material at issue has other students’ names in it, and it has a lot of sensitive content. So, I don’t feel comfortable allowing that to be just handed out to anybody.”
Daniels has denied Lipian’s claims of sexual assault and filed a countersuit in December 2018 against Lipian, citing “invasion of privacy and intentional infliction of emotional distress.” In January, Gordon dropped an accusation against Daniels, which she said had “no significance to the case.” In February, Daniels filed a motion to dismiss Lipian’s lawsuit for lack of jurisdiction. Last week, the court ruled the University must submit to sworn depositions and release internal sexual misconduct files regarding Daniels. The court also required Lipian, Daniels and Walters to turn over certain documents and communications.
Daniels has been on paid leave since August, when baritone singer Samuel Schultz accused Daniels and Walters of drugging and raping him in 2010. In addition, other University students have alleged Daniels solicited them for sex on the dating app Grindr.