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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowA former administrator at the Indiana University School of Medicine says he was pressured to resign after complaining about a female administrator he claims sexually harassed him.
Now Dr. Mark Rigby says he wants his job back—with back pay.
Rigby, a pediatrician, filed a lawsuit this week against the medical school and IUPUI, where he worked as academic chief of pediatric care before resigning in 2014.
According to the lawsuit, Rigby said that beginning in 2012, he was subjected to a sexual harassment and a hostile work environment by a female administrator, including “sexually aggressive language and unwanted touching.” Rigby said he rebuffed the advances, but the harassment continued.
IU School of Medicine officials declined to comment on the lawsuit.
In March 2014, Rigby reported the administrator’s behavior to Stephen Bogdewic, the medical school’s executive vice dean. Rigby later filed a complaint with the school’s Office of Equal Opportunity.
Afterward, Rigby said his superiors retaliated against him, excluding him from meetings and subjecting his work to “unwarranted scrutiny.”
Bogdewic suggested that Rigby “may wish to resign his position rather than pursue his complaints,” the lawsuit said.
Ribgy resigned in November 2014. He said he later tried to rescind his resignation, but his superiors would not let him.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Indianapolis, claims the medical school and IUPUI subjected him to a hostile working environment and disregarded his legal rights as protected by Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The suit also alleges the schools retaliated against him for filing a complaint.
Rigby is seeking his job back, along with back pay and attorney fees.
A spokeswoman for IUPUI declined to comment.
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