Lawsuit accuses US university of ignoring sexual harassment by professor

Three female graduate students at Harvard University have filed a lawsuit against the university for ignoring their reports for years about the sexual harassment of students by a professor, according to reports.

The New York Times first reported on Tuesday that the lawsuit was filed by Harvard graduate students Margaret Czerwienski, Lilia Kilburn and Amulya Mandava in a Boston federal court against the Ivy League school.

They claim that John Comaroff, an anthropology professor and expert on South Africa threatened to harm their academic careers if they reported him.

The students alleged that Comaroff for years "kissed and groped students without their consent, made unwelcome sexual advances, and threatened to sabotage students’ careers if they complained,” according to Reuters.

The students said they were among several others who reported Comaroff to Harvard officials, but despite those warnings, the university decided to do nothing when he retaliated by guaranteeing the students would have "trouble getting jobs," the lawsuit said.

The professor’s lawyers said in a statement said he "categorically denies ever harassing or retaliating against any student."

Harvard in January placed Comaroff on administrative leave following a university investigation into his conduct, and barred him from teaching required courses after finding he violated its sexual harassment and professional conduct policies.

But some 40 faculty members signed onto an open letter questioning the investigation by the university and called him an "excellent colleague."

The students said Harvard's inaction permitted Comaroff to repeatedly and forcibly kiss Kilburn, grope her in public and even graphically described ways she would be supposedly raped or killed in South Africa.

Kilburn said that Comaroff made the remark about rape with “a tone of enjoyment.”

“This was not normal office hours advice,” she said.

Many of the allegations were first reported in the university's newspaper, The Harvard Crimson, according to the Times. The lawsuit is the latest in a yearlong back-and-forth over the allegations.

Sexual harassment rampant in US academia: Report

Sexual harassment is rampant in academic science in the United States, according to a national academic group in the US.

According to a national academic group in the US, sexual harassment is rampant in universities and colleges in the United States, driving talented researchers out of the field and harming others’ careers.

Universities and colleges that train new scientists need a system-wide culture change and must treat sexual harassment as seriously as research misconduct, said the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine in Washington, DC.

Despite attempts to address sexual abuse in recent years, most academic policies and training consist of "symbolic compliance" with anti-discrimination laws that doesn't have much impact, the report found.

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