Posted on 07/29/2007 7:51:31 PM PDT by BlackVeil
RELATIONSHIPS between academic staff and students can be a minefield, as a gay male university tutor who turned down a movie date with a female student has discovered.
Peter Gauci, a former University of Queensland tutor, has won a two-year battle to appeal against a federal magistrate's decision that he was not the victim of sexual harassment by a student.
Mr Gauci was working as a first year tutorial co-ordinator in the university's psychology department when he met Cristelle Kennedy, a social work student, in 2002. As part of his job, he sometimes met Ms Kennedy to review her exam papers, or process her requests for extensions to assignments.
After one such meeting, she told him he had "really nice eyes". Unnerved by this comment, Mr Gauci immediately reported it to his supervisor, who advised him to keep a record.
He subsequently twice accepted Ms Kennedy's invitation to have coffee, and went for lunch with her once. After this lunch in 2003, she followed him back to the psychology building and asked him if he wanted to get a tattoo with her. Mr Gauci declined, but agreed to see a movie. "I was frankly too stunned to say anything other than OK," he told the Federal Magistrates Court in Brisbane.
But on the afternoon of the day they were supposed to go to the movies, Mr Gauci cancelled via email. "I don't feel good about seeing a movie with you," he wrote. "For me it's unusual for a student to throw this at me [asking him to be friends] and the whole situation is just uncomfortable … You're probably a nice person, but we can't be friends. Please don't persist with this."
Ms Kennedy wrote back saying it was Mr Gauci's own insecurities that made him feel uncomfortable. "I'm not asking a lot of you. If I wanted to 'jump you' I would have done it a lot sooner than this … As for persisting, well I'm not one to go down without a fight. If I wanted to make your life hell I could."
Mr Gauci copied his supervisor, Judy Bowey, in on his response. "I've asked you not to pursue this. It's a simple fact of life that people have different personalities and they're not all suited to be friends with each other," he said. "I'm sorry that it's come to this - but I have to inform you that professionally, you have no reason to see me in the workplace … you've no reason to make any contact with me and if you do again I will consider it harassment."
Although Mr Gauci said he was gay, and provided evidence that Ms Kennedy had been the aggressor, Dr Bowey told him he had not been harassed.
Instead she "felt he had been insensitive in effectively jilting Ms Kennedy by email", and suggested he write a letter of apology. Mr Gauci complied on May 9, 2003.
Ten days later Ms Kennedy made a sexual harassment complaint against Mr Gauci to the university. Within days, Mr Gauci lodged a complaint against her. He also lodged a complaint with the Anti-Discrimination Board of Queensland.
On July 16, 2003, Ms Kennedy withdrew her complaint. Mr Gauci persisted with his, and when he was not satisfied with the university's handling of the matter he sued the university and Ms Kennedy for breaches of the Sexual Discrimination Act.
In October 2005, Justice Jarrett in the Federal Magistrates Court found there were "no facts that would or could amount to sexual harassment by [Ms Kennedy] of [Mr Gauci]". This month, Justice Collier in the Federal Court in Brisbane granted Mr Gauci leave to appeal.
Mr Gauci and Ms Kennedy could not be contacted. The university declined to comment.
I am not surprised by this case - there are a lot of women of that type at Universities.
Ms Kennedy wrote back saying it was Mr Gauci’s own insecurities that made him feel uncomfortable. “I’m not asking a lot of you. If I wanted to ‘jump you’ I would have done it a lot sooner than this … As for persisting, well I’m not one to go down without a fight. If I wanted to make your life hell I could.”
There’s a lot more going on then the title implied.
Instead she “felt he had been insensitive in effectively jilting Ms Kennedy by email”, and suggested he write a letter of apology. Mr Gauci complied on May 9, 2003.
OK. A helluva lot more!
Of what type do you mean? Heterosexual? He wasn't harassed, neither was she and they both should be fined for wasting the courts time.
Ahem, meanwhile, the planet is warming.
And the smell of brimstone is becoming more pronounced.
She should get a clue when he says “No”. He’s allowed. Let it drop.
He shouldn’t have to go whining to his boss.
What a couple babies. Do they really need to have their hands held to work out a interpersonal relationship issue, that shouldn’t even be one?
He was quite right to start a paper trail. She could well have filed a frivolous sexual harassment charge and destroyed his career.
“...well I’m not one to go down without a fight.”
Can we start a separate thread for punchlines associated with this....ahem....not so straight line?
Totally true. Indeed, she did start such a suit. If he hadn't been able to justify himself, he would have been labelled as a criminal.
Hadn’t thought about that. But then again, my mind doesn’t work in those depraved ways; I wouldn’t think to do something like that to someone.
Can we start a separate thread for punchlines associated with this....ahem....not so straight line?
Nothing tops what John Edwards said after riding bikes with Lance Armstrong. “My butt hurts! Is that normal?”
Spurned women can be quite evil; I've dropped girlfriends because they behaved in the most sadistic, infantile manner when their boyfriends or potentials called it quits. Whack jobs aplenty.
Nowadays, a man should ALWAYS follow the 11th Commandment; Thou Shalt Cover Thine Own A**.
I worry for my sons.
commmon...This is from the Onion? Right????
No, it is a very serious news story about a high-level Australian University.
How dare you laugh!
I would say that this applies to women too. I work at a university myself, and I've seen similar bovine excretia happen all too often.
LOL, what a couple of wierdos.
Well, sorry to any tat-wearing FReepers, but that right there would be enough for me to break off all contact with the dingbat.
-ccm
Good for you; I am glad to hear it. Unfortunately the world is packed with women who DO have such depraved minds, and the legal deck is stacked in their favor.
Men are fools if they allow themselves to have any off-duty relationship with female co-workers.
-ccm
That’s great!
I missed that one.
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