The prominent dean, Lawrence Mitchell, is being sued for allegedly retaliating against a professor who tried to blow the whistle on the dean's reportedly inappropriate sexual behavior.
In the lawsuit, professor Raymond Ku said he saw Mitchell caress a female staff member at a party, according to the Plain Dealer.
Other women at the university said Mitchell made inappropriate comments to them, according to the lawsuit. The suit also alleged Mitchell told one grad student she "wasn't good for anything but keeping the bed warm."
An amended complaint filed late last month has more salacious details, including an allegation that Mitchell asked a student to participate in a "threesome," according to the Plain Dealer.
In response to these accusations, Mitchell allegedly threatened to fire Ku, a tenured professor for a decade, and reduced his pay, according to the suit. As a result of the investigation, Mitchell decided to put some distance between himself and Case for awhile.
Here's part of Mitchell's email he sent to the Case community on Wednesday morning, courtesy of Above The Law:
The past two and a half years have been a time of great progress and achievement for our law school. The recent initiation of litigation against the university and me, however, has proven to be a distraction to all of us.
In order to allow us to continue the work we have begun without further disruption, I have asked the university to permit me to take a temporary leave of absence. This will allow the university to conduct its independent review of this matter. I am confident that this review will be done expeditiously and that this review, again, will affirm that neither I nor the university have done anything wrong or improper.