Harvard settles lawsuit alleging it ignored sexual harassment

By Nate Raymond

BOSTON (Reuters) – Harvard University has settled a lawsuit accusing the Ivy League school of ignoring sexual harassment by a professor who three graduate students said had threatened their academic careers if they reported him.

In a filing on Wednesday 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.

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. The law firm that represented the women, Sanford Heisler Sharp (OTC:), said it was “glad that our clients will now be able to move on with their lives and careers.”

“We’re proud of our clients’ courage in coming forward, speaking up about their experiences, and shedding light on important issues,” the law firm said in a statement.

Harvard and Comaroff’s lawyer did not respond to requests for comment on Thursday. 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.

The three women said they were among the students who reported Comaroff to Harvard officials. 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 South Africa for being in a same-sex relationship.

The lawsuit alleged Harvard violated Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, which protects students from discrimination based on sex, and various Massachusetts laws. A judge largely rejected Harvard’s bid to dismiss the case in March 2023.

Comaroff was not a defendant. On his website, he said that as a result of the “fact-free allegations” he had before his retirement become the subject of an “ugly, ferocious campaign” by activists on campus who had occupied his classrooms and pressured students not to take courses with him.