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The U.S. Department of Education concluded a sexual harassment investigation at the Takoma/Silver Spring Campus of Montgomery College in Maryland involving a professor who told female students to remove their shirts in class in 2019.
The investigation found that the professor required the students to strip down to their sports bras to "demonstrate a medical assessment, despite the fact that the assessment did not require clothing removal, or the bodily commentary," the department's Office for Civil Rights (OCR) wrote in a press release Wednesday. The professor also commented on the students' nipples and breast positioning and demanded they remove the lab coats that some students put on for modesty purposes, according to the office's letter to the college.
A three-month-long investigation by the college concluded that the professor created a hostile environment based on sex. The educator was put on leave the day after a report was filed and was later terminated, according to OCR.
A Google Maps view of Montgomery College's Takoma/Silver Spring Campus in Maryland where a U.S. Department of Education investigation recently concluded. (Google Maps)
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OCR launched its investigation after a student claimed that the school discriminated against her on the basis of sex by not "promptly and equitably" responding to her sexual harassment complaint. The office concluded that the school followed Title IX guidelines but failed to notify affected students about its investigation's conclusion.
Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights Catherine E. Lhamon praised the Maryland college, located outside Washington, D.C., for quickly responding to the situation and mostly complying with Title IX.
"The shameful underlying facts in this investigation — of a college professor subjecting his entire class to sexual harassment as a condition of instruction — are galling and categorically unacceptable under Title IX," she said. "I appreciate the additional commitment Montgomery College made to fulfill its remaining obligation under Title IX to ensure that the discriminatory effects end for all its students."
Many of the impacted students were provided supportive services such as counseling, academic assistance and tuition reimbursement.
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The Office for Civil Rights is requiring that all the students in a class where the professor demanded students remove their shirts be notified of Montgomery College's investigation concluding. (Elina Shirazi)
One student who emailed with an investigator said she believed she failed the class because of the harassment. The college paid for her to re-enroll in the course.
Although the student who filed the initial complaint was notified about the college's investigation concluding, OCR determined more needed to be done to comply with Title IX.
OCR issued a resolution agreement requiring the school to provide written notice to all students that were in the class that the investigation was completed and detail the steps taken to "end a hostile environment."
"This lack of notification raises a concern that the college may not have taken necessary steps to ensure that a hostile environment did not persist for affected students," the release stated.
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The US Department of Education building is shown in Washington, DC, 21 July 2007. (SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
The resolution also requires the school to share with OCR documentation from a 2022 campus climate survey and to take any necessary steps to respond to information from it.
"We appreciate the thorough investigation conducted by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights in regards to this matter," Montgomery College's top spokesman, Marcus Rosano, told Fox News in a statement. "The College fully supports the determinations and resolutions outlined in its final report, made public this week."
Rosano declined to identify the professor, citing college policy regarding personnel matters.
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Montgomery County Councilmember Will Jawando, who chairs the council’s Education Committee, told FOX 5 DC that he was surprised to learn about the incident years after it happened.
"I do think the most important thing happened when this horrible sexual harassment happened, the person was removed immediately when the complaint came in and they were shortly thereafter fired," he said. "I think that worked."