 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
 |
PITTSBURGH - A recent graduate from state-owned Edinboro University contends a professor sexually harassed him with repeated references to the movie "Brokeback Mountain" and retaliated after he refused to date the professor.
The defendant, William Chandler, referred to Cameron Aulner, who graduated in August, and a classmate as "Brokeback buddies," asking, "Why don't you have a Brokeback moment with your hunting buddy?", according to the lawsuit.
The 2005 movie follows the 20-year forbidden romance between two roughneck ranch hands.
Aulner, 22, who now lives in Colorado, is suing the school, some administrators and Chandler.
"I had no intention of filing a lawsuit," Aulner told The Associated Press in a phone interview from his Westminster, Colo. home on Monday. "I wanted to get the situation resolved and get the professor out of the university."
Chandler and school officials did not immediately return calls and e-mails for comment.
The lawsuit contends a university investigation found "sufficient evidence to support his allegations" during a 2008 investigation. Still, he said Monday that he decided to sue after administrators failed to take action.
Aulner claims he was so intimidated his sophomore year that he agreed to date the professor, despite being heterosexual. He said he feared refusal might affect his final exam grade, but backed he out before the date happened.
Aulner, who uses a wheelchair because he fell off a roof installing Christmas lights in 2002, contends Chandler would loom over him whenever the professor encountered Aulner in hallways, classrooms, restrooms or elevators.
One of Aulner's attorneys, Joshua Friedman of Larchmont, N.Y., said the lawsuit is about Chandler "taking advantage of a position of power." It seeks unspecified damages.
The Denver Post reported last month that Aulner lunged from his wheelchair and tackled a suspected child molester who was trying to flee a store where he had allegedly fondled a 10-year-old girl in Westminster, Colo.
|
|
|
|
|
|
NEWS
Philly.com Promotions
