USC Professor Named in Doctoral Student’s

A former USC student has sued the school and a university professor, alleging the professor sexually harassed her while she was a doctoral student and his research assistant. He retaliated with unfair assessments of her graduate work when she objected.
The plaintiff’s Los Angeles Superior Court lawsuit also alleges civil rights violations, sexual discrimination, retaliation, failure to prevent harassment, discrimination and retaliation, sexual assault and battery, intentional infliction of emotional distress, and negligence. She names as defendants USC and Professor David C. Kang.
According to the suit, the plaintiff was effectively terminated by Kang as his research assistant, and he gave her a failing grade on her substantive paper for the qualifying exam. Though Kang previously stated it was satisfactory.
A USC representative released a statement on August 28 regarding the suit. “The university takes reports of sexual harassment and discrimination very seriously and has a comprehensive process for investigating them,’’ the statement read. “We are reviewing the lawsuit in detail.’’
The lawsuit states that Kang is the director of the Korean Studies Institute and Graduate Studies in the Department of Political Science and International Relations and is still a tenured USC professor.
The suit states that USC held Kang out as a trustworthy and upstanding professor and mentor. USC deliberately crafted this public image of USC and Kang to actively conceal the fact that it employs Kang and other sexual predators.” The suit claims that Kang is a repeat offender and targeted USC young Asian women.
Kang, also Korean, was chairman of the plaintiff’s academic department and her dissertation adviser. According to the suit, he began grooming her by asking her to lunch in November 2021. Kang later hired the woman as a research assistant so he could directly supervise her, according to her complaint.
Kang sexually harassed the plaintiff by treating her in sexually stereotypical ways, including telling her that his children needed a mother and insisting that she buy his daughter clothes or sanitary pads. The suit states.
The plaintiff initially resisted Kang’s requests to take his daughter shopping, not wanting to be put in the role of his wife, but later felt pressured to acquiesce, the suit states.
Kang clarified that the plaintiff’s job duties as his research assistant included “doing stuff for me,’’’ the suit alleges.
The plaintiff mustered the courage to send Kang an email objecting to his behavior, which brought a feigned apology from the professor in response, according to the suit. It further states that Kang retaliated by demeaning her doctorate work and telling her she should get a new adviser unless she amended their relationship.
USC did not do enough to protect the plaintiff from Kang, and a suspension imposed upon him by the university during a Title IX investigation was a “sham,’’ the suit alleges.
The plaintiff believes that Kang has sexually harassed and assaulted at least three other Asian/Korean female students or employees, according to her suit, which further states she has suffered both lost earnings and emotional distress.