Three Harvard University graduate students said in a federal lawsuit filed Tuesday that the Ivy League school ignored complaints of sexual harassment by a famous professor for years and allowed them to bully students by threatening to disrupt their careers. Gave.
“The message sent by the alleged Harvard actions in the complaint is clear: students must remain silent. This is the price to pay for a degree,” Russell Cornblith of Sanford Hesler Sharp, the women’s law firm, said in a statement.
The lawsuit, filed in US District Court in Boston, alleges that one of the students, Lilia Kilburn, was subjected to repeated forcible kissing and groping by John Komaroff, a professor of anthropology and African and African American studies, in early 2017. it was done.
The lawsuit states that on another occasion in 2017, when she met with Komaroff to discuss her plans to study in an African country, she repeatedly stated that she may be subjected to violence in Africa , because she was in a homosexual relationship.
“MS. Kilburn sat frozen in shock while Professor Komaroff continued for about five minutes,” the suit said.
Komaroff, who has not been named as a defendant in the lawsuit, said in a statement to his lawyers that he “denies ever harassment or retaliation against any student.”
“Concerning Ms. Kilburn, at no time did Professor Komaroff kiss or inappropriately touch her,” the statement said.
As far as the discussion about the dangers of potential violence in Africa when traveling with a gay partner is concerned, the statement said that he was giving appropriate advice motivated by concern for his safety.
The other two plaintiffs, Margaret Zerwienski and Amulya Mandawa, said that when they reported Komaroff’s behavior to university administrators, they retaliated against him by threatening to derail his career.
Komaroff denied ever threatening Zerwienski or Mandawa, but instead “continues to do everything possible to assist these students and advance their careers.”
The Associated Press generally does not identify people who say they are victims of sexual assault or harassment unless they choose to come out in public, as did the three women.
The three plaintiffs filed a complaint with the Harvard Office of Dispute Resolution in July 2020 that the school was in violation of Title IX, a federal law prohibiting gender discrimination in education.
“Harvard’s failure to act on repeated reports of harassment against Professor Komaroff – prompted by the media to do so – demonstrates an institutional policy of apathy: of the university, its reputation, and the faculty that maintain that reputation. system designed to protect the cost of its students,” the lawsuit states.
In an email, a Harvard spokesperson declined to comment on the lawsuit, but provided a copy of a letter from Claudine Gay, the Faculty of Arts and Sciences Dean, who said university investigators found Komaroff had been fired for the spring semester last month. Was placed on administrative leave for the remainder of the year. He was involved in verbal conduct that violated both the school’s sexual and gender-based and professional conduct policies.
The lawsuit seeks a jury trial, unspecified damages, and a ruling that Harvard violated women’s rights.