Attorney Elliot Hallak asked New York Judge Phaedra Perry-Bond to remove a court filing containing his client’s address, saying the move would help “alleviate the fallout” for the man and his family.
Lawyers for Doe acknowledged the mistake and submitted an amended filing with the correct address. But Hallak said the original document remained accessible to the public, leaving his client’s family vulnerable.
Police officers respond to vandalism at Day Hall on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York, on Monday, October 5, 2026. (Everett Chambala / The Cornell Daily Sun)
“The continued inclusion … of an incorrect address … is causing great hardship to the family of an active United States Servicemember who has absolutely no connection or involvement to this matter,” Hallak wrote.
Hallak said his client “has never been to Cornell University” and was stationed in North Carolina when the alleged 2024 gang rape at the center of Doe’s lawsuit occurred.
According to Hallak, the man’s family faced harassment and death threats after court filings used his address for a defendant with the same name. Their phone numbers were also posted online, he said.
Doe’s lawsuit has prompted protests and vandalism at Cornell. At least one other individual who shares a name with a defendant has likewise said strangers harassed him as a result of the case.
Students protest on Ho Plaza at Cornell University on Monday, Oct. 5, 2026, in Ithaca, N.Y., following an alleged 2024 sexual assault involving members of the Chi Phi fraternity. (Richard Beetham for Fox News Dig)
Doe told university police on Nov. 8, 2024, that she had been sexually assaulted at the Chi Phi fraternity house between 11 p.m. on Oct. 19 and 5:45 a.m. on Oct. 20. She also alleges that she was pressured to snort ketamine.
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Cornell suspended the fraternity and disciplined several of the students accused in the case. No criminal charges were brought.
Students protest on Ho Plaza at Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, on Monday, October 5, 2026. (Richard Beetham for News Outlet)
The lawsuit identifies seven former Chi Phi members as defendants, including a man who shares Hallak’s client’s name. It also names the fraternity and related entities, Cornell University, Doe’s sorority and a local bar where she claims she was served alcohol while underage.
Vandalism is seen at Day Hall on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York, on Monday, October 5, 2026. (Varsha Bhargava / The Cornell Daily Sun)
In a separate filing, Moonies Bar and Nightclub asked the court to move the case from New York City to Tompkins County, where the alleged events occurred and many of the defendants are located.
The Chi Phi fraternity house is pictured on the Cornell University campus in Ithaca, New York, on October 2, 2026. (AFP via Getty Images)
New York Gov. Kathy Hochul has appointed state Attorney General Letitia James to investigate the case.
