US$50 million sexual harassment lawsuit against ex-dean

Attorneys at public interest class-action litigation law firm Sanford Heisler Sharp have filed a US$50 million sexual harassment suit against Columbia University, with Tom Harford, the former dean of students of Columbia University’s School of General Studies, cited as a defendant in the matter, reports Markets Insider.

The firm represents plaintiff Jane Doe, an undergraduate at Columbia University, who alleges that Harford engaged in inappropriate and manipulative sexual behaviour with her and that Columbia University violated her rights by failing to protect her from his sexual misconduct. “Columbia pays lip service to the ideals of a safe campus, but it has a well-documented record of violating Title IX in preventing and responding to reports of sexual misconduct,” said Sanford Heisler Sharp’s Chairman David Sanford.

Doe’s suit is the third gender discrimination/sexual harassment case against the prestigious Ivy League university brought by Sanford Heisler Sharp in the past year. On 27 July, the firm won a US$1.25 million jury award for former Columbia Business School Professor Enrichetta Ravina, who asserted she was subjected to workplace retaliation and abuse of power in Columbia Business School. In 2017, the firm settled a sexual harassment lawsuit that resulted in the retirement of renowned history professor William Harris, who was accused of kissing and groping a 29-year female graduate student. That lawsuit unearthed a nearly 50-year pattern of sexual harassment by Harris, consistently ignored by Columbia's administration and trustees.
Full report on the Markets Insider site