A Western Kentucky University fraternity chapter and the owners of properties named in a lawsuit brought by a WKU student who has alleged that she was raped after being forced to drink to excess at a fraternity function have filed responses denying wrongdoing.

Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity, whose WKU chapter hosted a Crush Dance last year that figures into the student’s civil complaint, filed its response Thursday in Warren Circuit Court in which it denied the student’s allegations.

Trident Properties of Bowling Green, the owner of the Compound House that hosted the Crush Dance last year, and Kevin and Emily Williams, who own the site of a property referred to as Yosemite where a pre-party is said to have been held before the dance, also filed their responses this past week in Warren Circuit Court.

The student’s lawsuit, filed last month, names several WKU administrators, the university, Kappa Delta sorority and its WKU chapter and multiple members of Sigma Phi Epsilon’s WKU chapter as defendants.

The defendants are alleged to have failed to exercise a duty of reasonable care not to place the plaintiff in a harmful situation.

The plaintiff claims that she attended the Crush Dance on Feb. 6, 2021, along with a pre-party and a dinner, with a Sigma Phi Epsilon member who pressured her into drinking several shots of alcohol over the course of the night, brought her back to his dorm room in a state of intoxication and sexually assaulted her.

The incident was reported to the Western Kentucky University Police Department.

WKUPD interviewed the plaintiff, the fraternity member and another witness, and then shared its findings with the Warren County Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office, which declined to prosecute, according to court records.

Attorney Gregg Thornton, representing Sigma Phi Epsilon, denied allegations of wrongdoing against the fraternity, listing multiple defenses against the student’s claims.

While denying damages alleged by the plaintiff, Thornton’s response said in one listed defense that if any damages are found to have occurred, they “were caused and brought about by plaintiff’s own negligence which was a substantial factor in bringing about said alleged injuries and damages.”

Another defense raised by Thornton claims that any alleged damages were brought about by the conduct of “some third party” and that the fraternity is not at fault.

Trident Properties attorney Paul Lawless filed a response containing similar language denying the wrongdoing alleged by the student plaintiff and that any legal injuries or damages determined to have occurred are “the sole and proximate result of the negligent acts or omissions of the plaintiff and/or persons or entities other than this defendant and for whom this defendant is not liable or responsible.”

The fraternity and Trident Properties also seek to bar the plaintiff from seeking punitive damages, asserting that an awarding of punitive damages would violate their constitutional rights.

Kevin and Emily Williams, represented by attorney David Broderick, also deny the allegations against them in their formal response to the lawsuit, asserting that the couple “did not have an obligation” to the plaintiff and that the “plaintiff’s own fault and/or comparative fault” is a bar to any claim for damages.

“(The Williamses) deny any allegation that they had any involvement in the Sig Ep fraternity or that Sig Ep fraternity had any contractual agreements with them,” Broderick said in the filing.

The Williamses are identified in the response as owners of the property referred to in other documents as Yosemite, but they leased the property to another person and have no legal obligations to the plaintiff, according to the response from Broderick.

The couple’s response features a counterclaim indicating that, as property holders, they are “not liable for intentional acts or intentional criminal acts of another individual” and that “plaintiff’s own violation of law” bars her from being entitled to damages from the Williamses.