A former associate professor for Yale University’s Department of Spanish and Portuguese has filed a federal lawsuit claiming nonstop sexual harassment and crude comments were aimed at her and others by the department’s acting chairman.
In a lawsuit filed Wednesday in U.S. district court in New Haven, Susan Byrne claims Roberto Gonzalez Echevarria’s alleged behavior was repeatedly ignored by the department’s chair and another professor within the department. To make matters worse, Byrne alleges, top Yale officials knew there was a pattern of discrimination within that department and did nothing about it. The lawsuit alleges violations of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Connecticut Fair Employment Practices Act.
