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Utah professor files defamation lawsuit against URI presidential candidate
Mark Scialla
Issue date: 4/23/09 Section: News
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Harris Lenowitz, a Hebrew studies professor at Utah, is demanding Newman make a public apology and provide $5,000 in damages after Newman removed him and another professor from their leadership positions at the Middle East Center last spring, according to a statement released by his lawyer.
Newman said he made his decision to remove the two after hearing frequent reports of female staff departures from the MEC. Two senior female faculty members and one junior faculty member requested to be removed from the MEC because of the "hostile environment for women," and they felt the leadership at the MEC was abusive and exclusively male dominated. Newman said that during the investigation, there were reports of yelling and abusive language.
"What they were describing was a toxic environment," Newman said.
Kathryn Wyer, Lenowitz's attorney, said Newman's public accusations were false and highly damaging to the professor. She also said Newman did not follow the university procedures of due process and did not inform the professors of his decision.
"Since then, despite the fact that the Middle East Center director resigned in protest and five former women colleagues told the dean outright that his accusations were unjustified and that they left the University of Utah not because of Professor Lenowitz at all, but because other universities offered them better positions in more desirable locations, the dean has refused to retract these accusations," Wyer said.
According to Vice President of Institutional Advancement at Utah Fred Esplin, the university's administration and legal council fully support Newman in his decision to remove the professors.
"Although affected individuals sometimes dispute such decisions, the university has every confidence that the actions taken by Dean Robert Newman in connection with the Middle East Center were taken in good faith and in furtherance of the university's academic mission," Esplin said.
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Kathy Wyer
posted 4/23/09 @ 10:52 AM EST
Newman suggests that the timing of the lawsuit is "suspect" because it was filed shortly after URI announced Newman's candidacy for URI president in early April. (Continued…)
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