From Judge Waverly Crenshaw (M.D. Tenn.) today in Poe v. Lowe, affirming an earlier decision by Magistrate Judge Jeffery Frensley:
[I]n Spring 2022 there were anonymous posts on social media that accused Vanderbilt University student Simon Roe of sexually assaulting women. Roe disputed these accusations and filed a lawsuit for defamation "to 'unmask' those who had posted anonymously about him." Discovery in Roe's lawsuit revealed that fellow Vanderbilt student Poe was one of the posters.
Roe and his father then "demanded Vanderbilt take immediate action" against the posters, and Vanderbilt launched an investigation against Poe for violations of the Student Handbook. Vanderbilt eventually found that Poe violated three provisions of the Student Handbook and other school policies, and the university placed him on academic suspension. Poe challenged Vanderbilt's investigation by suing the university and several Vanderbilt employees ….
[T]he general rule in federal court is that all parties to a lawsuit must use their real names. The Sixth Circuit recognizes that "[u]nder certain circumstances, however, the district court may allow a plaintiff to proceed under a pseudonym[.]" "The key inquiry is whether the [plaintiff's] interest in privacy outweighs the presumption in favor of open judicial proceedings." This standard is difficult to meet, and "[i]t is the exceptional case in which a plaintiff may proceed under a fictitious name." forcing them 'to proceed with insufficient information to present their arguments.'" …
[C]ourts have found that plaintiffs may be compelled to disclose information of the utmost intimacy [which may justify pseudonymity] when they are "victims of sexual assault" or "accused of sexual assault." Those exceptional cases do not apply here, however, because Poe's "claims stem from an allegedly flawed student-misconduct investigation, [and] not from allegations of sexual assault."
