The University of Rochester has settled a sexual harassment lawsuit that was filed by students and faculty members in the university’s department of brain and cognitive sciences. The suit, originally filed in 2017, claimed that the university retaliated against and defamed them after they alleged sexual harassment by a faculty member. The suit also alleged that the department was a sexually hostile environment.
The university hired a legal team to investigate the allegations. It determined that the faculty member did engage in “sexually harassing acts.” But the report also concluded that neither the faculty member nor the university broke the law or violated university rules that were in effect when the acts of sexual harassment allegedly took place.
In 2019, a federal judge ruled that 16 of the 17 complaints filed by the plaintiffs were valid. The judge ruled that the case could go to trial. However, the plaintiffs and the university agreed to a $9.4 settlement of the case.
The professor who was accused of sexual harassment remains on the university’s faculty.