Friday, January 08, 1999
Court won't hear NKU sexual-harassment case
BY BEN L. KAUFMAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
A federal appeals court in Cincinnati refused Thursday to hear appeals on Northern Kentucky University's sexual harassment policy.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 6th Circuit said too many issues were unresolved.
Intervening now “would only delay the ultimate disposition,” Chief Judge Boyce F. Martin Jr. wrote.
If art professor Kevin Booher or NKU want to appeal after U.S. District Judge Jennifer B. Coffman finishes with their civil rights case, they can return to the 6th Circuit under Thursday's 3-0 decision.
Last year, Judge Coffman said NKU's vague, broad sexual harass ment policy violates First Amendment rights of free speech. She also rejected NKU's defense that it was entitled to immunity as a state agency. NKU appealed.
Judge Coffman said Mr. Booher was not a victim of the unconstitutional policy because it had not caused him any employment-related injuries. Mr. Booher appealed.
The case began in 1995 when student Martha Wells objected to Mr. Booher's statements in a nude figure drawing class, including a discussion of French painter Edgar Degas' work as being voyeuristic.
The matter could not be resolved informally and Ms. Wells filed a formal university complaint. In June 1996, an NKU sexual harassment panel said Mr. Booher violated the sexual harassment policy.
Mr. Booher, a tenured professor, appealed and won. Provost Paul Gaston found insufficient evidence and dismissed the reprimand.
The First Amendment issue arose in early 1996 when faculty colleagues censured Mr. Booher for published comments about the “Immaculate Misconceptions” art exhibit.
NKU had encouraged the art department to rename the exhibit after public criticism and two state legislators threatened to cut millions from funding for a science center.
On May 9, 1996, the art department faculty voted to censure Mr. Booher for speaking to the press.
Mr. Booher sued, alleging defamation and violation of his freedom to speak in class and to a reporter.
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