Law Professor of the Day: Don't Stand So Close to Me
All is fair in love and war… except for stalking...
Some people say that all’s fair in love and war. Regarding love, at least, I would have to disagree. Some behavior is neither fair, considerate, or legal.
Take stalking, for example. But love, especially when it’s unrequited or broken (that’s your cue, ATLCommentBot), leads people to do crazy things. This week, a Midwestern law professor and former high-ranking CIA lawyer, was on the receiving end of a restraining order based on allegations that he harassed a woman with whom he was reportedly having an affair.
Keep reading to learn more about our Law Professor of the Day and see what happens when Minnesota Nice turns into Minnesota-leave-me-the-hell alone….
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The accused professor is Afsheen John Radsan, who used to serve as the CIA’s assistant general counsel. According to the Pioneer Press, he has also been cited in the national media as a national security expert. The newspaper has more on the story of Radsan’s alleged affair with a woman named Kristi Rendahl that she claims went south (and not in a sexytime way):
A William Mitchell College of Law professor and former assistant general counsel for the CIA was ordered by a Ramsey County judge to stay away from a woman with whom he’d been having an affair.
Kristi Rendahl filed a petition for a harassment restraining order against Afsheen John Radsan, 49, of North Oaks.
She described a pattern of behavior after they broke up in October that included unwanted phone calls and emails, driving by her St. Paul home and showing up at her workplace unannounced…
The two agreed, in a document called a joint stipulation, that Judge William Leary would issue a harassment restraining order that would expire Sept. 1…
The judge issued the new order Feb. 15, forbidding Radsan from harassing or having any contact with Rendahl. He must stay away from her home, her workplace and Hamline University, where she is taking graduate classes in the School of Business. He is allowed to attend events at Hamline Law School.
Professor Radsan has denied all of Rendahl’s allegations. He told the Pioneer Press that his Dean was aware of what was happening, and that there have been no ramifications for him at work. A school spokesperson also told the paper that William Mitchell takes the allegations seriously, but had no further comment.
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So what exactly does Rendahl claim Radsan did? Here are the guts of her stalking allegations:
Rendahl, 36, wrote in her petition, filed in court Dec. 27, that, after the October breakup, he showed up unannounced at her workplace. She told him, she wrote, “that we cannot talk until our divorces are final at the soonest, and that we may not talk again.”
They reconciled briefly, sometime in November, then severed the relationship again, she said in her petition.
She sent Radsan an email Dec. 2 that read, in part, “Please do not call, do not write, do not email, do not send gifts…do not show up at my house or office or anywhere I am, do not try to communicate by any means,” according to a copy of the letter included with her petition.
But the contact did not stop, Rendahl wrote.
On Dec. 26, she alleged, “He was waiting at baggage claim (at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport) when I arrived via my flight….He followed me, repeatedly offering me a ride. He kept asking me to stop so he could tell me one thing.”
She wrote that Radsan’s behavior caused her to be “concerned about being at home, leaving the house, going to work, etc.”
Unfortunately, this is the second report of allegedly inappropriate (read: creepy) behavior by William Mitchell law professors in less than a month. Just one more, and we might have a New York Times trend piece on our hands.
Regardless of the allegations, we hope that Ms. Rendahl stays safe. Breakups (even of extramarital affairs) are never fun, but gentlemen, please remember: no means no. It pretty much never means, “let’s take a ride in my van!”
William Mitchell law professor accused of harassing woman [TwinCities.com]
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