Former undergraduate student Douglas Norman filed a civil lawsuit against the university in Middle Tennessee’s federal district court on March 13, alleging he was falsely arrested by Vanderbilt University Public Safety on April 16, 2024, and that officers knowingly entrapped him into this arrest. This was Norman’s second arrest by VUPS following an initial arrest on Nov. 14, 2023. The plaintiff is seeking damages against the defendants, litigation expenses, court costs and “all other relief” to which a jury sees he is entitled.

The lawsuit specifically names Vanderbilt, Lieutenant Alan Reed of VUPS, “C. Stevens” — also titled “Captain Stevens” of VUPS — and Director of Student Accountability Jeremy Bourgoin as defendants in the case.  

A representative from the university provided a statement on behalf of VUPS.

“[VUPS] is dedicated to serving the Vanderbilt community with integrity and pride, and respecting and safeguarding the dignity and rights of all individuals. The university is aware of the lawsuit and will respond to the complaint in court,” the statement reads. “We believe university personnel acted appropriately when they arrested an individual who had previously been directed repeatedly not to come on campus without permission.”

Details of the lawsuit

According to the lawsuit, Norman was placed on a leave of absence in early 2023 by the university “based on academic deficits,” and he appealed the decision, to which he was told he could apply for “reinstatement” after one year. He was evicted from student housing in August 2023 by VUPS officers and was allegedly told “to not come back onto the campus.” According to a representative from the university, students who are on a leave of absence are not enrolled and are “not eligible” to live in on-campus housing. 

In a conversation with The Hustler, Norman said he had been going through the Title IX process at the time of the leave of absence after filing a claim against his ex-girlfriend, another Vanderbilt student, for alleged domestic violence.

“During this eviction process, Mr. Norman asked the VUPS officers if he would still be able to come onto campus to attend Vanderbilt athletic and other special events,” the lawsuit reads. “The VUPS officers informed Mr. Norman that it would not be a problem for him to attend Vanderbilt athletic events, but that to enter campus for any other purpose he would need to contact a campus supervisor.”

Policies regarding academic discipline are specific to each school. According to the Undergraduate Catalogue for the College of Arts and Science, for example, students are required to maintain an academic record that will lead to graduation under a specified schedule. A student who does not reach the “prescribed levels of academic achievement” may be advised or required to take a leave of absence from the university, per a determination by the Administrative Committee. 

Students on a leave of absence may return at the end of the prescribed leave. Students “who have been dropped” must apply to the Office of the University Registrar for reinstatement, and this is typically not granted until after “an intervening period of at least a year.”

“Reinstatement is competitive, and there is no assurance that it will be granted,” the catalogue reads.

Following his leave, Norman attended three sports games on campus, during the third of which VUPS officers arrested him on Nov. 14, 2023, and charged him with trespassing. On Nov. 30, 2023, a university attorney sent him a letter stating he could not enter campus property unless he was seeking medical assistance at VUMC.

“[The VUPS officers] just watched me use my student tickets to enter a game. At any point, they could have given me a warning saying, ‘Hey, we’re not sure if you’re supposed to be here right now,’” Norman said.

The Fan Access Policy in the university student handbook states that any person who “improperly enter[s] the competition area” of a sports game on campus may be subject to expulsion from the facility, arrest on account of trespassing or loss of future ticket opportunities. Norman’s lawsuit does not state that he entered a competition area. 

The affidavit statement made by VUPS officers alleged that Norman had been expelled by the university. Per the lawsuit, Norman had obtained a harassment warrant and an ex parte order of protection against his ex-girlfriend from the Davidson County General Sessions Court. In a hearing on April 16, 2024, for the order of protection, the affidavit alleging Norman’s expulsion was used by the defendant and resulted in the judge denying his petition. 

Norman said he had not been notified of claims of his alleged expulsion until seeing the affidavit on Instagram, and he had not been officially expelled by the university.

The same day as the hearing, Norman contacted VUPS Dispatch, as instructed by the Nov. 30, 2023 letter, and he spoke with a dispatch supervisor, expressing frustration with the affidavit and asking to enter campus to speak with someone about the document. According to the lawsuit, Norman asked the dispatch supervisor to notify VUPS and Student Accountability that he would be coming to campus. He identified himself as “DJ Norman” in the phone call.

“Mr. Norman asked if he could come at 5 p.m. [CDT] to speak with someone, to which the supervisor responded, ‘I can definitely find somebody for you to talk to,’” the lawsuit reads. “Mr. Norman and the dispatcher continued talking, and the dispatcher made clear that she could not address the affidavit issue herself. Mr. Norman asked if she could let a campus supervisor know that he was coming, and she said ‘sure.’”

In a conversation with The Hustler, Norman alleged that the university removed parts of the audio recording of his calls with dispatch. 

“We’re supposed to have 12 minutes of audio recorded — not all of it’s going to be talking — but they gave us 10 or 11 minutes, and then portions of that are just redacted, where it’s not even the VUPS dispatch music,” Norman said. “It’s not even anyone talking — it’s not a pause, there’s no breathing, there’s nothing. They conveniently left out the portion of the call where I gave my [estimated time of arrival].”

According to the lawsuit, Norman called a second time to confirm that the dispatcher would inform the relevant parties of his presence on campus. He arrived on campus at the approved time with a plan to visit Student Accountability, the financial aid office and VUPS. After searching for the Student Accountability office, he ended up in the Student Affairs office, where he spoke with Administrative Assistant for the Associate Dean of Community Standards and Support Jessica Carter, who Norman informed about the affidavit and said he was trying to obtain documentation from the university proving he had never been expelled. 

Carter allegedly asked Norman to take a seat while she spoke to her supervisor, responded “sympathetically” to his situation and apologized for the affidavit. 

“However, unbeknownst to Mr. Norman, the Student Affairs staff had apparently called Mr. Bourgoin, the head of Vanderbilt Student Accountability, who had told them to keep Mr. Norman in the Student Affairs office so that VUPS could arrest him,” the lawsuit reads. “Bourgoin then contacted VUPS to have them arrest Mr. Norman.”

Reed was dispatched to arrest Norman, who allegedly confronted him in the Student Affairs office and told him he was “banned from campus.” Norman’s attorney spoke to Reed on the phone, asking for the student to be released with a warning given he was under the impression he had permission to be present on campus. 

“Reed responded that per VUPS ‘policy,’ he had to take Mr. Norman into custody. Mr. Norman identified the dispatcher he had spoken with by name, and said that he had notified them that he would be at VUPD and Student Accountability,” the lawsuit reads. “Reed responded by reiterating that he would arrest Mr. Norman.”

Reed arrested Norman for “criminal trespass” and claimed that VUPD was not notified he would be coming to campus. Stevens allegedly hung up on Norman’s attorney using the student’s phone and ignored his questions about the arrest. Reed took Norman to the Davidson County jail, and he informed the plaintiff that the only information he had about the situation was that Norman had previously been issued two trespass warnings and was not allowed on campus.

“Reed stated, ‘We arrest a lot of people for trespass on Vanderbilt property,’” the lawsuit reads. “Reed also stated that even if the trespass is by mistake, ‘if [someone is] on the campus property, they generally go to jail’ because ‘it’s just Vanderbilt’s policy.’”

Reed presented an affidavit to the Davidson County judicial commissioner that alleged criminal trespass, and the lawsuit alleges that, in his affidavit, Reed “failed to disclose” facts he had been informed by Norman regarding his communication with dispatch before his arrival on campus and his acquisition of permission to be there. The lawsuit also alleges that Reed did not include Norman’s offer to leave campus instead of facing arrest. 

The requested criminal trespass misdemeanor charge was issued, although Norman was released on bond a few hours later. Norman defended himself in front of the General Sessions Court against the trespass charge, and the charges were dropped on Sept. 4, 2024.

Norman expressed his frustration with the situation leading to his second arrest, as well as the following legal procedures.

“I had just gone through this whole entire process to get clearance [to be on campus], and everyone told me I was good to go, and [Carter] was there telling me, ‘Oh, I understand. We’re gonna get this fixed for you,’” Norman said. “[Carter] just stalled me, [and] essentially, by making another arrest, [the university was] trying to bury me underneath this litigation process and attorneys fees in court.”

Motivations behind the lawsuit

Norman filed the lawsuit against the defendants on two separate counts. The first count is on the claim that his false arrest by Vanderbilt violates the Fourth Amendment of the U.S. Constitution, which protects individuals from unreasonable searches and seizures by the government. Norman claimed Vanderbilt refusing to let him voluntarily leave led him to suffer a “deprivation of liberty, physical discomfort and emotional harm.” 

The second count is for malicious prosecution in violation of the Fourth Amendment. Norman and his lawyers claim that VUPS did not have the authority to arrest Norman for criminal trespass given the claim that he had contacted the school before arriving the day of his second arrest. 

In filing the lawsuit, Norman told The Hustler that he believes it is “about time” someone sued VUPS to hold the organization “accountable” for their actions. He included their lack of dash cameras and body cameras as reasons he feels they are able to commit actions such as arresting him and Nashville Scene reporter Eli Motycka on March 26, 2024.

“You have to show the public, ‘Hey, this is what’s happening,” Norman said. “And then Vandy’s [going to say], ‘Yeah, we’ll make it better,’ but you somehow need to figure out how to actually make them do better, because they’ve already said that with [Motycka]’s arrest.” 

Norman explained that he tried to file a complaint with VUPS after his second arrest, but he described the process as an “external complaint,” which he claimed the university does not have to accept.

“You arrest non-Vandy students all the time. You can’t just say they can’t complain to officers,” Norman said. “That means that Vanderbilt officers don’t, to my knowledge, have a disciplinary record, and if you don’t have that paper trail, how do you start seeing the habits of those officers?”

There is an online form to file complaints against VUPS, and these are forwarded to VUPS Community Relations personnel to be reviewed and investigated. The form also notes that complaints can be made by email, phone call, letter or in person. Complaints, either internal or external, regarding instances of discrimination, harassment and related retaliation within the university must be filed with the Equal Opportunity and Access Office. According to their website, the office will conduct an investigation and will request a response from the person or people the complaint is against.

Future of the lawsuit

Norman also added that the reason he has not come back to Vanderbilt to take classes despite not being expelled is because the people he is suing have the ability to expel him once he comes back due to his arrests being on his disciplinary record. 

“If I were to sign up for classes again, they’re going to make it where they can open up my disciplinary record [and say], ‘Oh, you were arrested in November. That’s against policy and can lead to suspension [or] expulsion,’” Norman said. “The person in charge of that is [Bourgoin], the person I am suing. The person who’s making the counts against me and gets to determine if they’re correct and I’ve been bad or something is the guy I’m suing so, that’s not something I can win.”

According to the student handbook, a student who has been “reported for an alleged violation” of a university policy who withdraws or takes leave may be sent a notice alleging this violation and notifying them of an investigation that is currently underway or has already been completed. The notice will also inform the student that they will not be in good standing until they have gone through the student accountability process to resolve the alleged violation. 

“If the student attempts to re-enroll before the matter is resolved, the Registrar will notify Student Accountability. The matter must be resolved before the student may re-enroll,” the handbook reads. “Should the University receive a request regarding the student’s disciplinary history, Student Accountability will provide notice the student is not in good standing pending the resolution of an accountability proceeding.”

A student who has been placed on leave “involuntarily for academic failure” would not be subject to a disciplinary penalty and re-enrollment in such cases would take place through normal administrative procedures. 

Norman outlined the next steps in the lawsuit, which include Vanderbilt’s ability to file for a motion to dismiss the suit. Norman said his “first big win” would be his lawyer’s ability to defend against Vanderbilt’s motion and proceed with the suit in court. Norman also said he expects Vanderbilt to go through the appeal process if his side wins, but he said he believes the process is “worth it” if he can get VUPS to implement the use of body cameras and get them to respond to public records. Norman is also suing for monetary damages due to harm caused by the false arrests.

“The money is more [of a] punishment for Vanderbilt. The main thing is the body cameras, dash cameras [and] cab cameras,” Norman said. “[VUPD] needs to have some sort of accountability.”

Norman also said he hopes his experience going through a lawsuit with Vanderbilt will help anyone who chooses to do the same in the future. He encouraged others to speak up against the university because he believes no change will occur if people stay silent. 

“I know it’s hard to talk about, but they’re going to win. They don’t want you to talk about it, and it just gets swept under the rug,” Norman said. “That’s part of the reason why I don’t want to settle, because I’m not just going to let [them] sweep it under the rug. I want something to happen.”