A federal judge has allowed several parts of a lawsuit brought against the University of Rochester over sexual misconduct and retaliation allegations to move forward.
The university had tried to get the lawsuit dismissed. It was filed two years ago by several people associated with the university’s Brain and Cognitive Sciences Department. The complaint included criticism of the way the U of R handled the allegations against Professor Florian Jaeger.
An investigation commissioned by the university criticized Jaeger for unprofessional behavior and poor judgement but cleared him of violating school policy.
Celeste Kidd is one of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. She has since left the University of Rochester and is now an associate professor of psychology at UC Berkeley. Kidd is pleased that much of the lawsuit brought by her and her colleagues has been allowed to move forward.
“I think vindication and the truth getting out, go hand in hand with the thing that I care most about,which is what I’ve said since Day 1: I want the university of Rochester to take these issues seriously,” Kidd said.
Jessica Cantlon is another of the plaintiffs in the lawsuit. She has also since left the U of R, and is now on the faculty of Carnegie Mellon University. She is pleased with the response by the federal judge to the attempt by the university to dismiss the lawsuit.
“It’s not ok to treat women this way, it’s not ok to treat employee whistleblowers in this way, and so having this part of the public record, an official record is something that is really important to us,” Cantlon said.
A statement by the U of R says it is pleased that federal judge Lawrence Vilardo dismissed several of the claims in the civil case, and says it is confident the university will prevail on the merits of the remaining claims. The university statement also says that since an independent report was issued in January 2018, the U of R has reviewed and strengthened many of its sexual misconduct policies and practices and will continue to do so.
The university says that it wants everyone who works and studies at the U of R to be treated fairly and equitably by others, and to report any instances where that has not been the case.
A statement from the plaintiffs in the lawsuit calls the reforms made by the university “more cosmetic than substantial.” The plaintiffs say that the judge directed them to submit an amended complaint, which they will do promptly.
