A federal lawsuit filed this week accuses Harvard University of gender discrimination and indifference following sexual harassment complaints against a professor during the last five years.
In a 65-page lawsuit filed Tuesday in federal court in Massachusetts, three women allege that anthropology professor John Comaroff harassed them. The professor, through his attorneys, denies any wrongdoing.
The women are suing Harvard for not acting sooner against Mr. Comaroff, who joined the school in 2012.
The lawsuit claims that complaints of inappropriate behavior with students had been lodged against him when he taught at the University of Chicago before joining Harvard.
“Harvard could have heeded this warning and passed on Professor Comaroff or implemented safeguards — and protected Harvard’s students. Instead, Harvard empowered Professor Comaroff,” the complaint reads.
“For years, he has used that power and his perch at Harvard to exploit aspiring scholars: he kissed and groped students without their consent, made unwelcome sexual advances, and threatened to sabotage students’ careers if they complained. When students reported him to Harvard and sought to warn their peers about him, Harvard watched as he retaliated by foreclosing career paths,” the lawsuit states.
According to the complaint, the school did eventually launch an investigation into the allegations against Mr. Comaroff in 2020, but allowed him to continue teaching at the time.
Margaret Czerwienski, Lilią Kilburn and Amulya Mandava are three doctoral students who brought the complaint against the university. The professor, however, is not a named defendant.
Ms. Kilburn accused him of groping her and trying to derail her career and academic opportunities. According to the lawsuit, she claims he had also “imagine[d] aloud her rape and murder.”
Ms. Mandava and Ms. Czerwienski said the professor tried to “poison their reputations … and upend their careers.”
Harvard eventually placed Mr. Comaroff on leave for the spring 2022 term — roughly five years after Ms. Czerwienski and Ms. Mandava first filed a complaint against him.
Lawyers for Mr. Comaroff said he “categorically denies ever harassing or retaliating against any student.”
They noted that he spoke to Ms. Kilburn about her safety when traveling and conducting research, including the risk of sexual violence, in response to the claim that he spoke of her rape and murder — denying that allegation.
In a lengthy statement defending their client, Norman Zalkind, Janet Halley and Ruth O’Meara-Costello said the professor never had complaints documented against him while at the University of Chicago.
“There, as at Harvard, he was a sincerely devoted mentor to countless students,” the attorneys said. “Professor Comaroff is not only a leading expert in his field — he is a deeply caring person who has devoted his energy for decades to mentoring and advancing generations of students. Attacks on his career based on gossip and fantasy rather than actual evidence are shameful.”
A spokesperson for Harvard University did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the lawsuit.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.