USC is asking a judge to order an independent psychological examination of a woman who alleges a university professor sexually harassed her while she was a doctoral student and research assistant.
In court papers filed Wednesday with Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Barbara A. Meiers in advance of a March 16 hearing, USC attorneys state that the plaintiff has made her alleged emotional distress at the hands of Professor David C. Kang an issue in the case, but at the same time has not provided sufficient information on the claim she continues to suffer from a troubled mental state.
The plaintiff has “failed and refused” to produce a complete copy of her own medical records and instead has provided USC with limited access to selectively redacted medical records, including any psychological treatment undertaken after September 2023, according to the USC attorneys’ court papers.
Given the woman’s claims of “catastrophic” emotional distress, USC seeks to have an independent psychiatrist, Dr. George Wood, evaluate the plaintiff during a virtual session on March 18 or on another date convenient to the plaintiff and Wood.
According to the suit filed against USC and Kang in August 2024, Kang retaliated with unfair assessments of the plaintiff’s graduate work when she objected to his alleged misconduct. The woman alleges she was effectively terminated by Kang as his research assistant and he gave her a failing grade on her substantive paper for the qualifying exam — even though he previously stated it was satisfactory — because she refused to bow to his alleged sexual misconduct.
Kang, who like the plaintiff is Korean, was chairman of the plaintiff’s academic department and her dissertation adviser. According to the suit, he began grooming her by asking her to lunch in November 2021. Kang later hired the woman as a research assistant so he could directly supervise her, according to her complaint.
Kang sexually harassed the plaintiff by treating her in sexually stereotypical ways, including telling her that his children needed a mother, that the professor had trouble buying his daughter clothes or sanitary pads and also by asking the plaintiff to take his daughter shopping in South Korea, the suit states.
Trial of the case is scheduled March 30.