SA-born professor in Harvard harassment suit settlement

Harvard University has settled a lawsuit accusing the Ivy League university of ignoring sexual harassment by a SA-born professor who three graduate students said had threatened their academic careers if they reported him. In a filing in federal court in Boston, the three women – Margaret Czerwienski, Lilia Kilburn and Amulya Mandava – voluntarily dismissed their 2022 lawsuit following months of mediation with Harvard, according to a Reuters report on the BusinessLIVE site. Their lawsuit gained national attention with its claims that John Comaroff, then an anthropology professor, for years kissed and groped students and threatened to sabotage students' careers if they complained. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed. Comaroff, who retired earlier this year, issued a statement on his website in July calling the allegations false. When the suit was filed, his lawyers said he categorically denied ever harassing or retaliating against any student. The #MeToo-era lawsuit followed an internal Harvard investigation that found Comaroff had engaged in verbal conduct that violated professional conduct and sexual harassment policies. Despite their warnings, Harvard watched as he retaliated by ensuring the students would have ‘trouble getting jobs,’ the lawsuit said. They said Harvard’s inaction allowed Comaroff to repeatedly and forcibly kiss Kilburn and grope her in public, and claimed he graphically described ways she would be supposedly raped or killed in SA for being in a same-sex relationship. A judge largely rejected Harvard's bid to dismiss the case in March 2023. Comaroff was not a defendant.

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