A psychology professor who resigned last year following a sexual misconduct investigation is threatening to sue The New School and two key administrators for $10.35 million, court documents show.
Emanuele Castano, who was the co-chair of the New School for Social Research’s psychology department, was investigated in July under Title IX for having an inappropriate relationship with an undergraduate student.
That undergraduate student, who’s referred to as Jane Doe in court documents, filed a complaint during the spring semester of 2017 about the relationship with Castano, according to court documents.
The student also sued The New School in April, saying the university didn’t do enough to protect her from Castano’s advances and mishandled her complaint, according to court documents.
Castano resigned in October 2017, following allegations of sexual misconduct by an anonymous student, according to the lawsuit filed by the student.
The New School has since initiated a review into its sexual misconduct policies, releasing a proposed draft in September.
According to the summons filed Sept. 9, Castano alleges that The New School committed fraud, negligence and violated a contract with him. He is asking for $10.35 million as punitive damages.
The court documents do not provide details on Castano’s allegations against the university.
Castano also names Jennifer Francone, The New School’s Title IX coordinator, and Jerry Cutler, Chief Human Resources Officer.
Castano and his lawyers could not be reached for comment, despite multiple attempts.
According to the court filing, the university has 20 days to respond with a written response to the summons summons issued by the Supreme Court of the State of New York.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the university responded. A New School spokesperson declined to comment further.
The filing represents an intent to sue, but Castano is not required to do so.
The New School declined to comment on Castano’s filing, or if they had provided a written response.
“The university has not been served with a complaint and cannot comment,” said Amy Malsin, the spokesperson for the university.
Last year, The Stanford Daily, the campus newspaper of Stanford, published an article about a Title IX investigation into Castano after an undergraduate student filed a sexual misconduct complaint. Stanford brought Castano on in November 2017, after he left The New School, but did not keep him on staff following the publication of the Daily’s article.
