Yale Law Professor Accused of Sexual Harassment

Yale Law

A Yale Law professor has been suspended following a sexual harassment investigation.

Jed Rubenfeld, a Robert R. Slaughter Professor of Law at Yale University, was suspended for two years after the university found a pattern of sexual harassment, including unwanted touching and attempted kissing, by the professor involving several students, Inside Higher Ed reports.

“I absolutely, unequivocally, 100 percent deny that I ever sexually harassed anyone, whether verbally or otherwise,” Rubenfeld tells New York Mag, which first reported the news. “Yes, I’ve said stupid things that I regret over the course of my 30 years as professor, and no professor who’s taught as long as I have that I know doesn’t have things that they regret that they said.”

TITLE IX

Rubenfeld, ironically, has written about Title IX in the past.

Title IX is a federal civil rights law that protects people from discrimination based on sex.

In a 2014 op-ed piece for the New York Times, Rubenfeld argued that the university that puts in place affirmative-consent standards “encourages people to think of themselves as sexual assault victims when there was no assault” and that it is “illogical” to claim “intercourse with someone ‘under the influence’ of alcohol is always rape.”

He has repeatedly denied the allegations of sexual harassment and stated, “I think subsequent to me having written some controversial articles about sexual assault, that I became a target of people making false allegations against me.”

WHISPER NETWORK

According to New York Mag, a whisper network about Rubenfeld operated on Yale campus with law students warning peers to be cautious around the professor.

Rubenfeld is married to fellow Yale Law professor Amy Chua, author of Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother.

While the university has yet to release details surrounding the investigation, Dean Heather Gerken released a statement to members of the Yale Law community stating, “While we cannot comment on the existence of investigations or complaints, the Law School and the University thoroughly investigate all complaints regarding violations of University rules and the University adjudicates them whenever it is appropriate to do so.” She added, “As Dean, I take this responsibility extraordinarily seriously.”

Sources: New York Mag, Inside Higher Ed, NY Times