Law School Deans, Law Schools

T14 Law School Dean Sued For Sexual Harassment

The complaint alleges escalation of physical intimacy that took a toll on the plaintiff.

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Sujit ChoudhryThe UC Berkeley Law School Dean, Sujit Choudhry, along with the UC Board of Regents, has been sued by his executive assistant for sexual harassment.

Tyann Sorrell, who is currently on leave from her position, filed suit yesterday against Dean Choudhry, alleging that he repeatedly hugged, kissed, and touched her. The complaint details a series of escalatory behaviors that made Sorrell feel anxious and depressed until she felt she had no choice but to go on leave.

According to the complaint, the harassment began shortly after Choudhry took over the position of dean. It started with “bear hugs,” then Choudhry added in kisses and that old creepy standby, massages. The complaint alleges the escalation of physical intimacy began to take its toll on plaintiff:

Choudhry’s kissing and hugging plaintiff was a near daily occurrence. Choudhry’s conduct made plaintiff feel disgusted, humiliated, exposed and dirty. She wondered what she had done to make him think it was o.k. for him to touch her.

The complaint also alleges Choudhry made efforts to increase his physical contact with Sorrell:

Choudhry’s hugging and kissing Plaintiff quickly escalated to a near daily occurrence. At times, it occurred multiple times per day. At the same time, the hugs became tighter and more lingering and the kissing more intimate in that over time Choudhry’s kisses began to land closer and closer to Plaintiff’s lips. Choudhry also began kissing Plaintiff on the forehead.

Listen, I’m a hugger, very comfortable sharing a quick embrace with those I spend a lot of time with. But this? This seems icky. No boss ever ever needs to kiss a woman on the forehead. Besides the intimacy of it all, it strikes me as incredibly paternalistic and demeaning. And the complaint reads as though Choudhry was priming Sorrell to accept more and more physical contact — way beyond what she was comfortable with and beyond anything that was necessary for her job.

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The plaintiff alleges she was intimidated by Choudhry and his behavior, and at first was hesitant to report anything:

Choudhry has a temper and was known for berating and being rude and dismissive of employees when they upset him or when things did not go his way. Choudhry would often say that if a person is not happy or if they feel that things are unfair in their workplace, they should leave and find another job.

According to the court filing, despite this reluctance she made several complaints throughout her time working for Choudhry to the Chiefs of Staff, but no action was taken until she directly confronted Choudhry via email and forwarded that communication on to HR.

As KTVU reports, the behavior was eventually investigated by the school, and he was disciplined, though not to the plaintiff’s satisfaction:

The suit says the university had concluded that Choudhry violated the sexual harassment policy and “admitted to hugging, kissing, messaging and/or caressing plaintiff at least multiple times per week.” Campus officials ultimately decided to dock the dean’s pay by 10 percent for a year, and he wrote Sorrell a letter of apology, the suit says.

Sorrell said in the suit that she tried “in vain to determine the reasoning” behind Choudhry’s discipline. A campus official later told her that he had “seriously considered terminating the dean but that the reason he had decided not to was because it would ruin the dean’s career, that is, destroy his future chances for higher appointment.”

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All of which is how we wind up with this lawsuit. Tyann Sorrell believes Berkeley valued Choudhry’s future career prospects over her physical and mental well being.

According to the Washington Post, Berkeley Law officials declined comment on this “personnel issue.”

(Read the full complaint on the next page.)

UC Berkeley law school dean sued for sex harassment [KTVU]
Dean of UC Berkeley School of Law sued for sexual harassment [Washington Post]

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