Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SATURDAY, July 1, 1995 TAG: 9507030020
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C4 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: NEWPORT NEWS DAILY PRESS
DATELINE: WILLIAMSBURG LENGTH: Medium
The suit was filed in March under Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972, a federal law that prohibits sex discrimination in federally financed schools. The suit is pending in U.S. District Court in Newport News.
Attorneys for the college have argued that Ismail Abdalla, the professor named in the $2 million suit filed by graduate student Karen Veselits, should be held responsible for any financial damages awarded.
The position would be comparable to saying employers should not be held responsible for the actions of their managers and employees under federal laws covering discrimination in the workplace.
``There are only a few cases in the country that have discussed the standard of liability under Title IX,'' said Guy Horsley, a senior state assistant attorney general. ``As far as I know, this and the case against VCU are the first in the state.'' Virginia Commonwealth University is facing an $850,000 sexual harassment suit filed by former undergraduate Amna Kadiki. Attorneys for the Richmond school also have moved to transfer liability to the professor named in the suit.
In a June 23 hearing in the VCU case in U.S. District Court in Richmond, however, Judge Robert R. Merhige Jr. ruled that schools are ``absolutely liable'' for incidents in which a professor wields academic power in pursuit of sexual encounters.
``As far as I know, no other court in U.S. has ruled that a college or university can be held strictly liable,'' said Eileen Wagner, a Richmond-based attorney specializing in sexual harassment cases who represents both Veselits and Kadiki.
Wagner said it was impossible to tell how Merhige's ruling would affect the William and Mary suit.
``It's certainly the same issue, but who knows how it will turn out,'' she said.
Abdalla filed a motion through his attorney several weeks ago to have any third party complaint against him dropped.
``It's always been our position that individuals cannot be held responsible under Title IX,'' said Robert Billingsley, who represents Abdalla. ``It is very inappropriate for William and Mary to try to shift the burden.''
William and Mary attorneys have since filed a response to that motion, asking that the court find Abdalla liable.
``It is fundamentally wrong, unjust and senseless for the college to have to spend its public funds to pay for Abdalla's personal misadventures,'' Paul Forch, who is representing the college along with several others in the attorney general's office, wrote in the response.
That position could leave professors in a dangerous position, Wagner said.
``What William and Mary is doing is taking their teachers and hanging them out to dry,'' she said.
``If they are successful, they're telling every college professor that they better take out an insurance policy for this. Because if you're only making five figures a year and you're left on your own, any accusation could ruin you.''
Veselits, 45, sued the college in March, saying officials there delayed resolving a sexual harassment complaint she filed against Abdalla in November 1993. Veselits has accused Abdalla of lowering her grade after she rebuffed his repeated sexual advances over a period of about seven months. Although a campus committee found evidence of some sexual harassment, Horsley said the committee's findings were ``neither conclusive nor final.''
A preliminary hearing should be scheduled in mid-July, Wagner said. If no settlement is reached, the case could come to trial as soon as September.
by CNB