Dartmouth Faces Lawsuit Over Sexual Misconduct by Professors

Seven women are suing the university over alleged assault, harassment, and discrimination by three prominent scientists.

Written byCatherine Offord

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Update (May 3, 2019): The ongoing lawsuit against Dartmouth College has gained two new plaintiffs, student newspaper The Dartmouth reported yesterday. The plaintiffs, both former students at the university, have brought forth additional allegations of sexual harassment and assault, with one saying she was choked “to the point that she feared for her safety” by Whalen. Charles Douglas, one of the lawyers for the plaintiffs, tells The Dartmouth, “The new complaint shows that there is a long-standing problem, and women are coming forward to address it.”

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Seven women filed a $70 million lawsuit against Dartmouth College today (November 15) over its alleged role in allowing a toxic culture to form, which led to harassment, discrimination, and assault. The group levels misconduct allegations against three professors in the department of psychology and brain sciences—William Kelley, Paul Whalen, and Todd Heatherton—who resigned or retired following a university investigation ...

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Meet the Author

Catherine Offord
After undergraduate research with spiders at the University of Oxford and graduate research with ants at Princeton University, Catherine left arthropods and academia to become a science journalist. She has worked in various guises at The Scientist since 2016. As Senior Editor, she wrote articles for the online and print publications, and edited the magazine’s Notebook, Careers, and Bio Business sections. She reports on subjects ranging from cellular and molecular biology to research misconduct and science policy. Find more of her work at her website.
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