Lawsuit claims sexual-harassing professor kept job
Jul 29 2009
Taryn Woolworth, a student at Lake Washington Technical College, says her professor was allowed to keep his job after the school substantiated her complaint of sexual harassment and has subsequently filed a $300,000 claim against the state.
Professor Bob Mandy received two written reprimands and was told to take a one-day anti-sexual harassment training course. Woolworth was unable to continue taking classes with her fellow students and was assigned one-on-one to another professor.
The harassment complaint was filed in March, stating that Mandy had repeatedly flirted with her and sent her hundreds of text messages and e-mails. Woolworth claims the messages continued even after she told the professor to stop. Some of the e-mails apologized for Mandy's inappropriate behavior, begging her to write him back.
A school spokesperson said that the college followed its policies in punishing Mandy, who is a married father.
The Lake Washington Web site describes Mandy as "a registered architect with over 20 years of experience in architecture and construction." Mandy has been with the school since 1997.
Lake Washington Tech is a state school in Kirkland with about 5,500 students.
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