The common practice of keeping negative information about a faculty member quiet if he agrees to resign quietly is criticized by some who find it unethical or illegal. They feel employers should disclose full employment records. Others warn that colleges may invade the privacy of a professor or defame him by passing on unsubstantiated charges to a…

In an unusually frank book, a prominent feminist theorist and college professor attacks college and university policies that limit relationships between faculty and students. When attempting to sexualize the atmosphere in which she worked, by kissing a female student in public, she was accused of sexual harassment, an action she finds inconsistent…

The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a case that might guide colleges in resolving conflict between campus policies on sexual harassment and free-speech rights. The case involved San Bernardino College (California) and a tenured professor whose explicit classroom discussions college officials felt constituted sexual harassment. An appeals…

Increasingly, college faculty members accused of sexual harassment say their rights have been breached and are suing their institutions. Some observers see the trend as a backlash to new expectations about appropriate faculty behavior. Others worry that administrative definitions of harassment are too broad, and faculty due process is violated.…

A federal judge has ordered the University of New Hampshire to end a professor's suspension, after ruling that his classroom comments did not amount to sexual harassment. The university had claimed the teacher violated institutional sexual-harassment policy by creating a classroom environment hostile to women. (MSE)