A federal judge on Friday dismissed most of law professor Kyndra Rotunda's sexual harassment lawsuit against George Mason University School of Law professor Joseph Zengerle, the school's dean and the school itself. Judge Leonie Brinkema of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled from the bench after a hearing on motions to dismiss the case.
"It was a very good day," said law school dean Daniel Polsby, who described the lawsuit as a "very serious abuse of the system." He added, "The civil rights laws are very important. When they are abused, they are attacked."
Rotunda, who now teaches at Chapman University School of Law, filed the suit after alleging she was sexually harassed by Zengerle and was forced her to quit in 2008. She sued the university and the dean because she said Zengerle's inappropriate behavior was known and tolerated. "I was sexually harassed at one of America's upper-tier law schools, and they shouldn't be able to get away with it," Rotunda said before filing suit, as we reported here last year.
Rotunda's husband Ronald is a noted constitutional scholar who also taught at George Mason and who now, like his wife, teaches at Chapman. He declined comment today, referring questions to their D.C. lawyer Richard Seymour. In a phone interview Seymour said, "We have great respect for the judge, but we think she was mistaken and we plan to appeal."
The judge dismissed all claims against Polsby and the university and all but one claim against Zengerle. The remaining claim against Zengerle involves the common law tort of assault and battery under state law. A trial set for June 7 in federal court, which originally would have covered all the claims, will now be limited to the assault and battery claim. Zengerle could not be reached for comment, but in the past has denied any improper conduct.
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