University of Miami. Photo: Credit: SandiMako/Shutterstock.com.

Ex-doctorate marketing student Ana Kono sued the University of Miami Wednesday for allegedly ignoring her complaints of sexual harassment against a professor, whom she claims forced her out of her program.

The lawsuit points the finger at marketing professor Dr. Juliano Laran for intentional infliction of emotional distress, and accuses the Coral Gables university, its business school and board of trustees of ”deliberate indifference” and failing to comply with their responsibilities, which include providing education free of sex discrimination, under a federal civil rights law, Title IX.

Miami lawyer Donald J. Hayden of Mark, Migdal & Hayden claims his client's teaching dreams were dashed when the program dismissed her, after complaining about Laran's alleged ridicule, humiliation and sexually inappropriate comments.

But Laran's lawyer, Christopher D. Brown of Beasley, Demos & Brown in Miami, claims the allegations are untrue, saying the program dismissed Kono because of academic deficiencies, and that Laran had tried to find her a job.

“[Kono] was unable to satisfy the requirements for successful completion of a Ph.D. program, including coming up with good research ideas and forming a dissertation committee. And this is not just Dr. Laran's opinion,” Brown said. “Dr. Laran bears no ill-will of any kind toward Ms. Kono and certainly never intended to cause her 'emotional distress,' as she claims.”

Counsel to UM, Eric D. Isocoff of Isocoff Ragatz in Miami, also disputes the allegations and argues that suing a private university's board of trustees is legally improper.

“The university stands by the academic decisions that were made, and will defend any suggestion that [Kono's] dismissal was for reasons other than academic,” Isocoff said.

For Kono, obtaining a doctorate meant leaving behind a successful 15-year marketing career that started with advertising giant Saatchi & Saatchi and led to spots at Disney, Warner Brothers and 20th Century Fox.

Donald Hayden. Courtesy photo.

“Even though she had a young child and a husband in Los Angeles, she made the decision to come here and work on this program and work almost exclusively for Dr. Laran,” Hayden said.

Kono requested Laran as an adviser because he came highly recommended for his solid reputation in research, according to Hayden. She claimed she became uncomfortable when the professor suggested a research project measuring a person's attractiveness and determining how willing someone was to go on a date with that person.

Kono claims the professor expected her to go to a bar with him and other students during her second semester, suggesting “socializing at bars was critical to plaintiff securing a subsequent academic position,” according to the complaint, filed in the Southern District of Florida.

The new program was small with only two other doctorate students, who were both male, according to the suit, which claims Laran got drunk at the bar, told tales of sexual escapades and asked her to share her own “wild stories.”

That was allegedly the first piece in a pattern of verbal sexual harassment and mental abuse. Kono claims that after the attraction research project flopped, Laran rejected all other proposals and would refer to her as the “boring mom, who didn't know how to party.”

Read the full complaint:

Kono claims she found a new adviser, but Laran threatened to destroy her academic career, undertaking a “campaign to discourage all the other faculty members from assisting plaintiff in her efforts.” The program then dismissed Kono after rejecting her dissertation proposal, according to the complaint.

Laran was an associate professor when Kono enrolled in 2014, but later received tenure and became program coordinator, which the suit alleges happened after others had complained about him. Hayden claims he's discovered — too late for his client — that UM is now investigating at least 20 similar complaints female students and faculty members had against Laran.

“No one would take up her cause, and this successful businesswoman felt not only a lot of doubt and humiliation but she was forced to resign and not chase her dream of being a marketing professor,” Hayden said.

Kono sought psychological help after losing her doctorate spot, and the incident affected her marriage and family life, according to Hayden. She's since changed direction to launch a startup company. Kono's suit claims she lost out on a professorship, and seeks lost wages, plus punitive damages and an award for pain and suffering.

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