Seven women sue Dartmouth over sexual misconduct claims against former professors

Seven women filed a lawsuit on Thursday against Dartmouth College alleging that three former professors sexually assaulted and harassed them for more than a decade.

The current and former students allege in a lawsuit filed in federal court in New Hampshire that former professors Todd Heatherton, William Kelley and Paul Whalen used their positions in the school’s Department of Psychology and Brain Sciences (PBS) to coerce them into drinking and sex.

The lawsuit claims that the men “leered at, groped, sexted, intoxicated and even raped female students,” according to The New York Times.

{mosads}The men allegedly used their professional and academic influence to influence the women and threaten retribution, according to the lawsuit.

The women, who are seeking $70 million in damages, allege that Dartmouth administrators overlooked the allegations dating back to 2002.

Dartmouth President Philip Hanlon said in a message to the campus on Thursday morning that the school had intended to fire the three professors as a result of an external investigation into sexual misconduct claims on campus, but the men retired or resigned over the summer before the administration was able to do so.

“I would like to reiterate that sexual misconduct and harassment have no place at Dartmouth,” Hanlon wrote. “We applaud the courage displayed by members of our community within PBS who brought the misconduct allegations to Dartmouth’s attention last year. And we remain open to a fair resolution of the students’ claims through an alternative to the court process.”

“However, we respectfully, but strongly, disagree with the characterizations of Dartmouth’s actions in the complaint and will respond through our own court filings,” he added.

The Times was unable to reach any of the three former professors for comment.