Former student files complaint with Dept. of Ed.

Claims sexual harassment A former University graduate student has filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education's Office of Civil Rights alleging the University failed to follow federal guidelines for the resolution and central reporting of sexual harassment. His complaint centers around a case he was involved in during 1992 and 1993. A spokesperson for the Department of Education in Washington confirmed last week that the department received the complaint of Brian Linson, the former linguistics graduate student, in late November 1993. The department is currently evaluating the claim. Linson's complaint alleges that he was sexually and physically harassed by co-worker and fellow linguistics graduate student Ken Matsuda while employed in the Department of Computer and Information Science. Matsuda could not be reached for comment. After reporting the harassment to Linguistics Graduate Chairperson Donald Ringe, the complaint alleges that Ringe and Department Chairperson Ellen Prince intimidated Linson in an attempt to prevent him from pursuing his grievance within the University. It also alleges that Prince and Ringe blocked Linson from having his grievance resolved within the University and retaliated against him when he did pursue resolution with the Judicial Inquiry Office. Linson said earlier this week that Assistant Judicial Inquiry Officer Robin Read met with him and found his complaint to be valid. She wrote a letter to Ringe requesting that he set up a meeting with Linson and Matsuda to resolve the complaint, but Ringe told Linson to "mind his own business," Linson said. A copy of Read's letter, which was obtained by The Daily Pennsylvanian and is marked confidential, states "Professor Ringe has also agreed to meet with Ken Matsuda to inform him that he must not touch any person for any reason unless he has their permission." Read is on extended leave from the University and could not be reached for comment. In his complaint, Linson states that retaliatory acts against him included "immediate termination of Student [sic] status with no academic or disciplinary or justifiable technical grounds." He also alleges that he was terminated from his employment with a member of the faculty because of the pressure surrounding the case. Linson's complaint states all these retaliatory acts were "conducted in full knowledge of the University." Prince and Ringe both denied Linson's allegations. "That's absolutely not true," Ringe said of Linson's allegations last week, but he refused to comment further on the case. Prince said she had not previously heard of Linson's complaint with the Department of Education and denied any wrongdoing in the case. She also said the only case of sexual harassment she knew of in the recent history of the Linguistics Department was a complaint against Linson by Matsuda which went to the University Ombudsman's Office. Linson said he had never been accused of sexual harassment by anyone at the University, adding that Prince's statement confused him. Current Ombudsman David DeLaura, who was only recently appointed to the post, could not be reached for comment this week. Linson's complaint also alleges problems inherent in the University's grievance procedure, which he claims "effectively encourages discrimination on the basis of sex." He also states in the complaint that "there were many implied refusals to act on my complaints." In a supplemental complaint to the Department of Education also filed in late November, 1993, Linson alleges that he met with Interim President Claire Fagin and Assistant to the President Stephen Steinberg on November 1. In the meeting, Linson said he "outlined a major problem with student resources for grievance resolution in the University." The supplement alleges that he was promised a follow-up meeting within a week, but that the meeting never took place. "As of this date there has not been a full hearing of my complaint nor a resolution," Linson states in his complaint. Fagin said she met with Linson and tried to help him to the best of her ability, but that she did not remember promising him any follow-up meetings. She added that she thinks Linson has exhausted all avenues for resolving his grievance within the University. "I literally reached out to him," Fagin said. "Certainly I think he accessed everything at the University." Steinberg could not be reached for comment, despite several calls placed to his office. Linson said earlier this week that an Office of Civil Rights investigator has been in contact with the University General Counsel's Office in regard to his complaint. Assistant General Counsel Brenda Fraser said yesterday she is aware of Linson's complaint and was contacted by Marjorie Barnett, the investigator in Linson's case. She added, though, that she could not speak in detail about Linson's allegations. "We will cooperate with OCR and I think we have been doing that," Fraser said. The spokesperson for Education Department said that if Linson's complaint is found to fall under the Department's jurisdiction, it will be investigated with the goal of reaching an informal and "early resolution" with the University.