A defamation lawsuit has been filed against Robert Newman, University of Utah Dean of Humanities and one of three finalists for the position of the University of Rhode Island's president.
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.
Newman said he believes the timing of the suit is "suspect" because it was brought against him after it was made public that he would be considered for URI's next president. Wyer said that the suit has nothing to do with Newman's future employment prospects.
Newman said he did follow due process and brought the issue to the professors confidentially. He also said many complaints have been filed against him at the state and university level, which have been found to be inconclusive.
Wyer said at this point Lenowitz only wants to return to his position at the MEC and for Newman to retract his statements.
Newman said he believes his decision was in the best interest of the university and that he hopes his time spent at URI will reveal what he has to offer.
"People at positions of senior academia leadership sometimes have to make difficult decisions to enhance their institution," Newman said. "My hope is that my visit to URI will focus on what I might bring to enhance the future of the university instead of something that happened out of necessity 14 months ago at the University of Utah."
Peter Sluglett, the other professor removed from the MEC had no comment on the issue but wished Newman success in his application at URI. Lenowitz also did not speak on the matter. Newman arrived at URI last night and will be leaving tomorrow.