STORY 45

My male supervisor at the university engaged in a years-long campaign to try to force me to sign over my large research fund to his control. When I refused to sign the documents, he and then the administration engaged in a concerted bullying campaign to silence me (protecting the university’s reputation) while trying to force me to sign the documents.

They broke workplace law repeatedly and openly, and with absolutely no fear about consequences to themselves. They used every method they could to try to force my hand, from withholding approval of the expense receipts I submitted under my grants to attempting to redirect the funds to themselves. I was completely alone in my attempts to do the right thing. The other women faculty kept silent as they tried to obtain tenure.

I held out until my health failed, which has left me disabled. I could not physically endure the long process of suing them, so I signed an NDA and took the money. They destroyed my health and work with no consequences to themselves. They did this with taxpayer funding and student fees.