Duke University, Insurer End Dispute Over Lacrosse Case

The American International Group has resolved its lawsuit with Duke University over expenses and legal fees in a case that has its origins in a 2006 incident when a woman alleged that three Duke lacrosse players had sexually assaulted her. The case was eventually dropped, but not before it became a nationwide controversy.

The three players who were later exonerated in the case later sued the Durham, North Carolina-based university for a variety of charges including that Duke failed to produce evidence that showed the three players had been falsely accused. The university eventually reached confidential settlements with the three players.

Duke then filed a claim against AIG for expenses and legal fees for the cost related to the lawsuits. In 2008, Joseph O’Neil, representing AIG, said it had offered Duke $5 million.

Documents filed in the U.S. District Court in Durham in the case of Duke University Health System v. National Union Fire Insurance Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania showed that both sides had agreed to drop all claims and counterclaims in the case. The two sides also agreed to pay their own legal costs. Both sides declined to comment on the case.