Dive Summary:
- The Indiana Supreme Court Tuesday upheld the University of Evansville's decision in 2004 to fire tenured professor John Haegert after he was accused of violating the institution's sexual harassment policy.
- Court documents say that English department chair Margaret McMullan was speaking with a prospective student and her parents in 2004 when Haegert, who had been with the private university since 1979, entered the department's lounge and stroked McCullan's face and neck while calling her "Sweetie."
- Haegert argued that he was only in an "extremely joyous" mood on that particular day and "regarded the greeting as harmless, inconsequential and very brief," but court documents showed that several female students had filed similar (but informal) complaints about Haegert since 2002.
From the article:
Indiana's highest court on Tuesday upheld the University of Evansville's decision to fire a tenured professor accused of violating its sexual harassment policy. John Haegert, a professor at the private university since 1979, was fired in 2004 following an incident involving a female tenured professor. Margaret McMullan, then chair of the English department, was speaking with a prospective student and her parents in August 2004 when Haegert entered the department lounge and began to stroke the professor on her face and neck, calling her "Sweetie," according to court documents. ...