Over 400 pages of documents released to The Guardian and the East Bay Times reveal a pattern of sexual harassment among faculty and staff at the University of California at Berkeley. The documents, which include disciplinary reports as well as correspondence, show that 19 employees, including six faculty members, have violated the university’s sexual harassment conduct code since 2011. In addition, the documents confirm that faculty members are unlikely to be fired or disciplined for their violations whereas often lower-paid, less valued staff members were always fired for similar or lesser violations.
The release of the documents comes on the heels of two high-profile sexual harassment cases at the university. First, the university turned a blind eye to astronomer Geoff Marcy, who is accused of sexually harassing multiple students over a decade. Second, Law School dean Sujit Choudhry acknowledged harassing a female employee over the course of two years. Despite both allegations and admissions, Marcy and Choudhry continued their employment at the university. Marcy eventually resigned and Choudhry was recently downgraded from dean to professor.
In addition to the Marcy and Choudhry cases, the often heavily redacted documents from the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination show that the office upheld sexual harassment claims against a diving coach, an adjunct professor in the statistics department, a professor in the department of South and Southeast Asian Studies, a custodian, and a disability specialist, among others. Nearly all of the faculty members kept their positions at the university while all of the staff were terminated.
Among those who resigned or were fired by the university are Jeff Topacio, the dining manager, who, according to documents, made graphic comments about his “large penis” to subordinates:
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