Karen Bates, a University graduate student, filed a complaint in N.J. Superior Court on March 22, accusing architecture professor Georges Teyssot of sexual harassment.
Teyssot said Saturday that he "did not sexually harass Ms. Karen Bates. Her allegations . . . are denied." He declined to comment further, citing that the matter is in litigation.
Bates is currently a graduate student in the School of Architecture. Her complaint states that the alleged harassment began when she moved from the comparative literature department to the architecture school in 1997. Bates claims that she decided to switch departments at Teyssot's suggestion.
Bates attended ARC 548: Selected Architects of the 18th and 19th Century taught by Teyssot in 1996.
"At that time," reads the complaint, "defendant Teyssot aggressively began an attempt to persuade the plaintiff to enroll in the Ph.D. program at the School of Architecture, and he repeatedly insisted that only his program fit plaintiff's intellectual objectives and goals. In this effort, defendant Teyssot provided plaintiff with descriptions of the program, which were later revealed to be not only misleading, but also false."
Teyssot, who is the director of graduate studies and the head of the Ph.D. program at the architecture school, acted as Bates' adviser.
During her first year in the program, Bates' complaint says, she realized that the program was not as well suited to her research as Teyssot allegedly led her to believe.
"Whenever plaintiff sought to discuss this issue with defendant Teyssot, he generally changed the subject to one of a personal nature," says the complaint. "In addition, what plaintiff believed to be a professional interest had turned very quickly into inappropriate comments about plaintiff's physical appearance and inquiries about plaintiff's personal life."
The complaint also alleges that Teyssot called "other female professors offensive names based on gender."
Dean of the architecture school Ralph Lerner, the Associate Dean of the Faculty Katherine Rohrer and the University are also named as defendants in the complaint.
In Feb. 2000, Bates allegedly sought assistance from Lerner to change advisers and lodge a formal complaint against Teyssot, the complaint says.
In May 2000 Bates allegedly spoke with Rohrer. "During this telephone conversation plaintiff made very clear to Dean Rohrer that she was scared for her safety," the complaint states.
The complaint accuses the University of failing to take steps to prevent harassment.
University spokeswoman Marilyn Marks said Friday that the University has a formal sexual harassment policy that is readily available on the University Website and known to University faculty.
Marks also noted that the administration hired an independent investigator in response to its learning "of several complaints in the School of Architecture" in May 2000. Neither Marks nor the investigator would comment on the specific findings of the report, though Marks noted that the "University feels very confident that the investigation was very complete."
Marks declined to comment on whether the University is denying the charges brought against it.
Bates was not available for comment this weekend.
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