Harvard faces Title IX lawsuit after 3 students claim sexual harassment, abuse and retaliation by professor

Three graduate students in Harvard University's anthropology department are suing the school, claiming it failed to protect students from sexual abuse and career-ending retaliation by a professor, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday.

The plaintiffs, Margaret Czerwienski, Lilia Kilburn and Amulya Mandava, allege that John Comaroff, a professor of African and African American Studies and of Anthropology, "kissed and groped students without their consent, made unwelcome sexual advances, and threatened to sabotage students' careers if they complained," according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit further says that the university's failure to act on reports of harassment by the professor demonstrates an "institutional policy of indifference: a system designed to protect the University, its reputation, and the faculty who sustain that reputation at the expense of its students."