Dive Brief:
- A Northwestern University philosophy professor who was accused of sexual assault by one student and of having non-consensual sex with another is suing the school for gender discrimination, defamation, and invasion of privacy.
- A university investigation determined the professor, Peter Ludlow, violated the school’s sexual harassment policy because he had “unequal power” in his relationship with a philosophy graduate student. That student had filed a complaint in March accusing him of having non-consensual sex with her.
- Ludlow’s lawsuit also names Northwestern’s president, Morton Schapiro, the graduate student, and other university officials as defendants.
Dive Insight:
If the professor is worried about his reputation, he’s probably not doing himself any favors by publicizing the accusations against him. Ludlow accuses the university of acting with malice toward his rights under Title IX. He also denies that he had non-consensual sex with the philosophy student, claiming that they had “a consensual romantic relationship.” Another Northwestern student, in the Medill Journalism School, filed a Title IX lawsuit against Northwestern in February, accusing the school of acting with “indifference and retaliation” after reporting that Ludlow sexually assaulted her in 2012, the Daily Northwestern reports.
