Prominent Law Prof Pulled From Teaching Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegations
Marquette University launched an investigation into professor Paul Secunda, allegedly for an inappropriate relationship with a student.
December 27, 2018 at 12:56 PM
3 minute read
A well-known labor and employment expert has been removed from the classroom at Marquette University Law School amid allegations of an inappropriate relationship with a student.
The university removed Paul Secunda from the classroom two weeks before the end of the fall semester, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported Thursday. University officials told the Journal that the decision was “the result of information developed from an investigation that began last May.” They declined to offer more details on the investigation or its origins, and a campus spokeswoman did not respond to requests for comment Thursday.
However, Secunda issued a statement to the Journal through his attorney, Jennifer Walther, saying that Marquette is acting to protect itself. “I cannot stand by idly in the face of what I believe to be an injustice. I have confidence in the process Marquette and the faculty have established to protect tenured professors in these circumstances, and believe I will clear my name at the end,” Secunda said in his statement.
Reached Thursday, Walther said she was not at liberty to comment on the situation beyond the statement Secunda issued to the Journal Sentinel. Secunda also declined Thursday to discuss the investigation.
According to the Journal, Secunda's case will now be handled through Marquette's Faculty Hearing process.
➤➤ Stay on top of developments and trends in legal education with Ahead of the Curve by Karen Sloan, a new weekly briefing from Law.com. Sign up here and get next week's email update straight to your inbox.
Secunda has taught at Marquette Law since 2008. Prior to that, he was on the faculty at University of Mississippi School of Law and an associate in the labor and employment practice at Morgan, Lewis & Bockius.
Secunda is just the latest legal academic to come under scrutiny for alleged misconduct with students and staff. Yale Law School is reportedly investigating high-profile professor Jed Rubenfeld for allegedly crossing lines with female students he taught and mentored. Meanwhile, Indiana University is investigating new professor Ian Samuel for possible violations of Title IX, which prohibit gender discrimination and sexual misconduct on campus. And University of Illinois law professor Jay Kesan is on a yearlong leave of absence resulting from an earlier investigation into ongoing inappropriate conduct with female students and fellow faculty members. (The university's investigation found that Kesan's behavior violated the campus code of conduct but did not rise to the level of sexual misconduct. But students called for his dismissal once word of the 2017 investigation went public.)
Secunda is a prominent academic and lists employment discrimination law and education law among his areas of expertise. He has chaired three different Association of American Law Schools sections: employee benefits and executive compensation; labor relations and employment law; and employment discrimination law.
|This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View All'No Evidence'?: Big Law Firms Defend Academic Publishers in EDNY Antitrust Case
3 minute readLaw Firms Are Turning to Online Training Platforms as Apprenticeship Model Falters
'Substantive Deficiencies': Judge Grants Big Law Motion Dismissing Ivy League Price-Fixing Claims
3 minute readClass Action Lawsuit Targets 40 Private Colleges and Universities Over Alleged Price-Fixing
3 minute readTrending Stories
- 1Infant Formula Judge Sanctions Kirkland's Jim Hurst: 'Overtly Crossed the Lines'
- 2Abbott, Mead Johnson Win Defense Verdict Over Preemie Infant Formula
- 3Guarantees Are Back, Whether Law Firms Want to Talk About Them or Not
- 4Trump Files $10B Suit Against CBS in Amarillo Federal Court
- 5Preparing Your Law Firm for 2025: Smart Ways to Embrace AI & Other Technologies
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250