A judge has pared some of the claims from the upcoming trial of a woman’s lawsuit alleging that she was sexually harassed by a university professor while she was a doctoral student and research assistant.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Barbara A. Meiers heard arguments from lawyers for the university and the professor for a partial dismissal of the woman’s lawsuit claims on Feb. 27. She took the issues under submission before ruling on Monday.
Regarding USC, the judge tossed out the plaintiff’s claims for race, sexual and national origin discrimination, retaliation, sexual harassment, sexual abuse and harassment in the educational setting — which the woman had agreed to drop — and wrongful termination. The woman can move forward with such claims as harassment and intentional infliction of emotional distress.
As far as plaintiff’s allegations against Professor David C. Kang, the judge eliminated the woman’s causes of action for retaliation, gender violence and, once again, sexual abuse and harassment in the educational setting. However, the judge said there are triable issues in the woman’s cause of action against Kang for intentional infliction of emotional distress.
In a related case issue, USC and the woman have agreed that she will undergo an independent psychological examination by a USC-chosen therapist, prompting university attorneys to request cancellation of a March 16 hearing in which they sought a court order for the mental evaluation.
USC attorneys contended that the plaintiff has made her alleged emotional distress at the hands of Kang an issue in the case, but at the same time had not provided sufficient information on the claim she continues to suffer from a troubled mental state.
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.