Former student appeals harassment suit

The former graduate student sued the University in 1994 for alleged mishandling of his sexual harassment claims. Alleging that he was kicked out of the University after accusing a male student of sexual harassment, former Linguistics graduate student Brian Linson has appealed a recent court decision exonerating the University from mishandling the charge. Nearly four years ago, Linson raised allegations that he was sexually and physically harassed by fellow Linguistics graduate student Ken Matsuda while employed in the Department of Computer and Information Science. After reporting the harassment to Linguistics Graduate Chairperson Donald Ringe, Linson alleges, Ringe and Department Chairperson Ellen Prince tried to "intimidate" him into dropping his grievance against Matsuda by sending him threatening e-mail messages. Linson said he raised the messages' harsh tone with the University's ombudsman and other offices. He charges that the Linguistics Department expelled him from its graduate program after those offices raised the harassment issue. The lawsuit claims that the University mishandled the sexual harassment charges, and Linson said the Linguistics Department dropped him because his charges could prove embarrassing. But University Counsel Brenda Fraser said Linson's student status was terminated because he violated University guidelines by failing to register for the fall semester of 1993. She added that the department reviewed Linson's achievement in the graduate program as part of the University's due process procedure, and ultimately dropped Linson for his "less than stellar academic record." Although The Daily Pennsylvanian was not able to acquire a copy of Linson's student transcript, the former student insists that he "never got a C" or less. Linson's suit went to court last summer, but District Court Judge Robert Kelly decided the case in the University's favor. He found the University not guilty of any of Linson's seven charges, two of which fell under federal Title IX guidelines for higher education. These guidelines are frequently applied to gender inequities in university spending, most notably in athletics. The decision for the University found that Linson's case was treated without regard to his gender. But after the ruling Linson asked the judge to reconsider the case, a request Kelly denied in November. Linson decided to appeal the ruling to a higher court after receiving a phone call from Lisa Pattalia, an official in the General Counsel's office in the U.S. Department of Education, who questioned Kelly's interpretation of Title IX. Education Department officials said Title IX covers sexual harassment in addition to gender equity, and that the law may still apply even if Linson was not treated on account of his gender. And for Linson, the dispute is more than simple legal misinterpretation. He noted that he held a prestigious Ircs Fellowship for research at the time of his expulsion and had co-authored a paper with Prince. "Department chairs don't co-author papers with students that are sub-standard," he said. But Fraser said Linson's academic progress may not have been the only factor behind his expulsion. "In Ph.D. programs you assess a lot more than grades," she said. Fraser explained that C's are considered to be failing grades in a graduate track, while B's and B-'s are not held in the same esteem as in undergraduate programs. She added that "his case has no merit whatsoever" and that the sexual harassment charges were "unrelated" to Linson's dismissal from the University. "We don't think there's anything to any of his claims," she said. "It's as though there's a ball that keeps on rolling and the conspiracy grows and grows." Linson's appeal will be submitted to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third District January 21. The University will have 30 days to respond to charges, after which Linson has an additional 15 days to file written briefs.