$3 Million Awarded in Harassment Case

 

     The July 4 issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education reports that a former Iowa State University graduate student has been awarded $3 million by a state jury. The student said that she was sexually harassed by a professor during a 1995 research trip and that Iowa State did not properly handle the complaint.

      A university investigation supported the student's claim of harassment, but action was dropped after the professor was diagnosed with terminal cancer. The student said that "word around the university was that he was exonerated, i.e., that I had lied" because the university did not issue a statement explaining the situation. Moreover, the professor was allowed to remain on the campus, although the investigation had determined his actions were improper.

      Iowa State might have saved itself $3 million (and bad press), if faculty and staff had received the training described in the August 21 issue of the Berkeleyan. Perhaps in response to its own bad press-allegations of sexual harassment by a graduate of the law school (see Fall 2002 Newsletter), UCB is offering workshops and an online tutorial (accessible from the online version of the Berkeleyan article at www.berkeley.edu/berkeleyan). Deans, department chairs, and senior-level supervisors are expected to participate in the new training programs, along with the employees in their units. The tutorial seems quite clear and useful, screens are short and concise-until one gets to "complaint procedures" (dated July 1993). By providing a clear tutorial, but not changing complaint procedures, the university appears to be discouraging harassment and reducing its legal liability, but not necessarily improving the situation for those who are sexually harassed.