Denise Cosby said in September that her first reaction to Smith’s sentencing was “thank you, Jesus, this is all over with.”

The Harvard College Handbook for Students, which is cited in the complaint, states that “students who wish to have guests who are not Harvard students for more than two nights must first also obtain permission of the House Master or Dean of Freshmen. The hosts of repeated overnight guests who are not Harvard students must make their guests’ presence known to the Building Manager and security personnel due to safety considerations.”

Peres said that this language makes Harvard liable for Copney’s unpenalized presence in Lowell House.

“The rules recognize that that’s a dangerous thing, to have a non-Harvard student living there,” Peres said. “Someone looked the other way and they knew about it, or they were just lax and allowed this situation to occur.”

According to documents filed in October 2010 in Smith’s case, Lowell tutors did approach her about the smell of marijuana from her room. After that, Copney, who smoked $100 worth of the drug a day, according to court documents, moved his daily drug use to Kirkland.

Peres said that Denise Cosby chose to sue Eck, Austin, and Spoering because they were “the ones that are closest to the situation.”

“They’re supposed to enforce the rules, and obviously someone did not enforce the rules as to non-Harvard students living in the dorm,” Peres said.

Benzan added, “There is clearly a drug culture on campus.... Harvard University should take more responsibility.”

The University has twenty business days to respond to the complaint, at which point the discovery phase of the suit could begin.

If a jury in a potential trial delivers a verdict in Denise Cosby’s favor, the University and the three Lowell officials could face monetary damages.

Eck declined to comment, and Austin and Spoering did not respond to an emailed request for comment.

—Staff writer Rebecca D. Robbins can be reached at rrobbins@college.harvard.edu.