Lawsuit Alleges Harvard Ignored Sexual Harassment Complaints Against Prof. John Comaroff for Years

Three graduate students filed a lawsuit against Harvard on Tuesday alleging the school ignored years of sexual harassment and retaliation by professor John L. Comaroff, who was placed on unpaid leave last month.

The suit, filed by three graduate students in the Anthropology Department, alleges that Harvard mishandled Title IX complaints and allowed Comaroff to intimidate students who threatened to report him, including the plaintiffs.

The suit — filed by Margaret G. Czerwienski, Lilia M. Kilburn, and Amulya Mandava — charges that Comaroff committed physical and verbal sexual harassment, including unwanted kissing and groping. In the 65-page filing, the students took sharp aim at Harvard, which they allege “watched” as Comaroff retaliated against accusers and “allowed its investigatory process to be used in service of Professor Comaroff’s campaign of professional blacklisting.”

The lawsuit alleges that Comaroff subjected Kilburn “to a pattern of gender-based harassment and assault continuing from 2017 until at least April 2019 using threats, intimidation, and coercion.” He also allegedly “threatened, intimidated, and coerced” Mandava and Czerwienski for warning others about his sexual misconduct “with the goal of inducing them to stop their speech and opposition to his sexual harassment and gender discrimination.”

The suit, filed in federal court, charges that Harvard knew of Comaroff’s alleged misconduct when it hired him in 2012 and failed to act after repeated reports of verbal and physical harassment. It also accuses the University of refusing to take action against Comaroff until the press reported on the harassment allegations.

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