The students filed the lawsuit in federal court in Boston days after Harvard placed John Comaroff, an anthropology professor and expert on SA, on administrative leave following a university investigation into his conduct.Three female graduate students at Harvard University filed a lawsuit on Tuesday accusing the Ivy League school of ignoring for years the sexual harassment of students by a professor who they said threatened their academic careers if they reported him.
Margaret Czerwienski, Lilia Kilburn and Amulya Mandava 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.” Comaroff, who joined Harvard in 2012, was not named as a defendant. His lawyers — Norman Zalkind, Janet Halley, and Ruth O’Meara-Costello — in a joint statement said he “categorically denies ever harassing or retaliating against any student.”
Those sanctions have divided the Harvard community, where nearly 40 faculty members signed onto an open letter questioning the investigation and calling him an “excellent colleague.”