Former students detail complaints about Montgomery College professor accused of sexual harassment

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Md. - New details are coming out about a professor at Montgomery College who was accused of sexually harassing nearly a dozen female students, making them remove their clothing in class. 

Following FOX 5's report Thursday, some students and community members reached out, upset that the school still hasn’t named the professor, who was fired three months after the sexual harassment complaint was filed. They say "Montgomery College has hid this under the rug long enough."

The response of frustration and upset came after an announcement earlier this week, that the U.S. Department of Education had completed an investigation into a Montgomery College professor, confirming he sexually harassed a class of all-female students.

One young woman who claims she was in the class involved says the professor told the all-female class they wouldn’t be allowed in if they didn’t wear a sports bra, were not informed they’d have to take their tops off and said the professor closed the blinds before determining who didn’t have to participate in the "demonstration" based on their breasts. FOX 5 reached out to the college to confirm her enrollment.

"It did feel like something was off. That I was, like, checking with other people to make sure that, that wasn’t normal and I wasn’t crazy for feeling that way," she said. "We were first-semester students and like didn’t really know and he was in a position of power where he knew what he was doing was wrong and I feel like he could’ve gotten away with it."

The young woman says she’s since learned from other students that others in co-ed classes didn’t have to do that. 

She also says they didn’t learn the investigation was completed and that the professor was fired until recent reporting — almost four years later. She only heard about it from friends who were watching the news.

Another former student who was part of the nursing program at the college in the Spring of 2019 and took the professor’s class — before the sexual harassment happened — told FOX 5 she filed a complaint with the department heads after she and most of her class allegedly failed his course.  

She accused the professor of humiliating her to the point of crying, not properly teaching the subject matter, showing up late and making inappropriate sexual jokes. In response, the Nursing Chair sent the young woman an email that she showed FOX 5, granting her a refund and allowing her to take the course again. 

It’s not clear how many other complaints like this there may have been.

In the sexual harassment incident, the U.S. Department of Education Title IX investigation report says a professor required at least 11 female students, waist-up, to strip down to a sports bra for a classroom demonstration – and then commented on their breasts, something not needed in the demonstration.

Title IX is a federal regulation mandated by Congress that "prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex under any education program or activity that receives federal financial assistance," according to the investigation report.

In addition to the school’s own policy, it does have its own impact on how information is shared.

According to the DOE OCR, it was determined that the professor created a hostile environment by asking the female students to remove their shirts and when some of the women put their lab jackets on "for modesty purposes," the professor demanded that they remove them. 

The incident happened at Montgomery College’s Takoma/Silver Spring campus. Two days after the U.S. DOE OCR announcement, Montgomery College confirmed for FOX 5 that the incident was actually reported about four years ago, in October of 2019. A Montgomery College spokesperson says the professor was placed on administrative leave the day after the complaint was made.

"We appreciate the thorough investigation conducted by the Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights in regards to this matter. The College fully supports the determinations and resolutions outlined in its final report, made public this week," a spokesperson for Montgomery College said.

Multiple sources shared the identity of the professor to FOX 5. We reached out to the college multiple times to ask why he is not being identified.

On Friday, the spokesperson confirmed MC policy prohibits them from commenting on personnel matters.

Following more questions, the college spokesperson responded, "The instructor was placed on paid administrative leave in October 2019, one day after the report was filed. Following the College’s thorough investigation, as stated in the OCR report, the instructor was notified of his termination as a Montgomery College employee. The notification of termination occurred in January 2020. The timeline leading to termination of employment, to be clear, was October 2019 to January 2020 – approximately three months."

Online documentation involving the name of the professor involved shows he was not separated from the school until October of 2020 but the Montgomery College spokesperson would not confirm this.

Joyce Smithey is a labor and employment attorney who has worked some Title IX cases. She says something very important is that the Title IX federal statute language requires that schools not only keep the alleged victim(s) identity confidential but also the alleged perpetrator’s.  She says this policy has a positive impact.

"If somebody is scared to report harassment because they fear they might be retaliated against, a layer of confidentiality can make them feel protected. They can come forward, report it," Smithey said. 

Montgomery College has confirmed that its policy also prohibits the school from discussing private personnel matters. Smithey noted the importance of protecting someone until an allegation is proven but she also noted this is what the "Me Too" movement was about — cases getting settled and not becoming public.

"To some extent, it is in Congress’ hands but it’s also, you know, empowering people to speak up just like the ‘Me Too’ movement was about. You know this one – This particular case originated from a single complaint of somebody who came forward, making sure people aren’t retaliated against," she said.

FOX 5 also asked whether this [investigation] ever referred to authorities for possible criminal investigation and if there is any requirement to do so. 

"As stated in the OCR report, the College informed all associated students that Title IX and Compliance representatives were conducting a formal investigation and that the College would assist any student in reporting the incident to the police," the spokesperson responded.

When asked what the college is doing to safeguard students so this does not happen again in the future, the school's spokesperson said, "At Montgomery College, the Office of Employee and Labor Relations, the Department of Compliance, Risk, and Ethics, and the Office of Public Safety, as well as Academic and Student Affairs, focus on implementing the policies that safeguard students and our campus community. Finally, as stated in the OCR’s press release, the College was commended 'for swiftly responding with a thorough investigation and action to address the effects of the hostile environment created by the professor on the students in his class.'"