USC, professor named in lawsuit alleging sexual harassment of doctoral student

A former USC student has sued both the school and a university professor, alleging that the professor sexually harassed her while she was a graduate student and his research assistant. When she objected, he retaliated by giving her unfair grades on her final papers.

The plaintiff's lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court also accuses her of civil rights violations, sexual discrimination, retaliation, failure to prevent harassment, discrimination and retaliation, sexual assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress and negligence. She names USC and Professor David C. Kang as defendants.

According to the lawsuit, Kang effectively fired the plaintiff as a research assistant and gave her a failing grade on her final exam paper—even though he had previously described it as satisfactory—because she refused to comply with his alleged sexual misconduct.