Part of a lawsuit can stand against two men who were with an Indiana University student when she disappeared in 2011, a federal judge has ruled.
The parents of Lauren Spierer can sue former IU students Jason Rosenbaum and Corey Rossman on counts alleging negligence and damages for providing drinks to someone who already was intoxicated, U.S. District Judge Tanya Walton Pratt said in a ruling issued Monday.
Pratt dismissed a third count alleging the two men were responsible for the loss of a child's services because, the judge ruled, the 20-year-old Spierer was an adult when she disappeared, The Indianapolis Star reported.
Charlene and Robert Spierer of Greenburgh, N.Y., sued the men for not ensuring their incapacitated daughter returned safely to her apartment after a night of partying in Bloomington. They allege Rosenbaum provided alcoholic drinks at his apartment and Rossman did the same later at Kilroy's Sports Bar in Bloomington.
During a hearing in the case earlier this month, Pratt dismissed a third defendant, Michael Beth, from the case, ruling he was not liable for his actions. Beth offered Spierer a place to sleep after his roommate, Rossman, brought her intoxicated to their apartment. When Spierer refused the offer, Beth escorted her down the hall to Rosenbaum's apartment.
The Spierers have long maintained that the men haven't fully cooperated with investigators and hope the lawsuit will force them to answer questions under oath.
Messages seeking comment were left Tuesday for attorneys representing Rosenbaum, Rossman and the Spierers.
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No criminal charges have been filed in Spierer's disappearance on June 3, 2011, and there's been no sign of her despite numerous searches around Bloomington and the surrounding wooded countryside that's dotted with lakes and water-filled old limestone quarries about 40 miles south of Indianapolis.
