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Seven female students from Dartmouth have filed a $70 million federal lawsuit claiming that the college had failed to protect them against sexual harassment from multiple professors.
The class-action lawsuit against the trustees of Dartmouth College was filed by current as well as former students and alleges that they suffered gender discrimination, sexual assault and sexual harassment from three tenured professors from the college’s department of psychological and brain sciences.
According to Slate, Dartmouth’s PBS department has a history of inappropriate behavior and sexual harassment allegations, including one prior sexual harassment allegation against one of the three tenured professors in this lawsuit.
This lawsuit, unlike previous allegations, includes multiple allegations of rape. One of the victims claims that one of the three professors coaxed her into drinking and then raped her.
The students reported the three professors to Dartmouth’s Title IX office, to the PBS department chair, and to the graduate studies director, however, no immediate action was allegedly taken and the students felt unsafe.
Additionally, the lawsuit alleges that there was a pervasive culture of sexual harassment, bullying as well as retaliation. That one of professors hosted hot tub parties at his house as well as sent them inappropriate text messages for example. In retaliation for refusing their advances, the students were often “ostracized professionally” according to Slate.
The students filing the lawsuit are seeking $70 million in damages. They are taking the fight not only to the court, but also online, utilizing social media to organize and demand institutional changes to the way sexual harassment and assault claims are handled.
Despite the progress happening with the #metoo and #timesup movements, the culture change is still slow and sexual harassment and sexual assault are still pervasive in multiple industries.
Reporting and filing lawsuits, however, are one way for victims to take back control and get the justice they deserve. For more information about how to file a lawsuit, send us a message.
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