MOUNT VERNON, Iowa (KCRG) – A professor is suing Cornell College, after she claims the school mishandled a harassment complaint.
Megan Altman, the current chair of the Philosophy Department, says she was terrified by former department chair Jim White’s increasing and continuous sexual harassment and his strange and inconsistent behavior.
In her complaint filed last month, Altman claims White harassed and stalked her and the provost and dean of students failed to act on her complaints.
One incident detailed in the complaint goes back to 2022, and alleges White attempted to deny her request to work a remote winter in Europe.
The complaint says White told her, “I don’t want you to go because I’ll miss you.”
In another incident the following year, Altman alleges White was upset she “did not need” him anymore after she made other friends at work. He told her, “I need you to need me,” according to the complaint.
It goes on to detail additional, escalating incidents, along with Altman’s attempts to take new routes around campus to avoid White.
In a September 14, 2023, incident, Altman alleges White stomped up and down the stairs, threw objects around, shook the walls and exclaimed, “I can’t work with her here! If I could retire today, I would! I’m done with this department! I’m done. Everything exploded yesterday. I can’t talk about this with her here.”
White was sent home and asked not to return to the office that day for her own safety.
The complaint also says, the next day, another philosophy professor at the college had a conversation with White in which he admitted to being obsessed with Altman.
After Altman filed a complaint against White, she says Cornell College allowed White to file a retaliatory complaint about a month later.
Then, Altman says she was informed that White would drop charges against her if she agreed to drop her Title IX claim against him.
However, when Altman said she met with the college’s director of human resources to file another complaint against white for acting against her in retaliation, she was encouraged to drop her Title IX claims and accept his offer of resolution instead.
The college would later dismiss Altman’s complaint for retaliation, finding White had not violated their non-retaliation policy.
The complaint also says Dean of Students Jackie Wilson pressured Altman to participate in the informal resolution process, claiming, “If you go the formal route, then it’s out of my hands and you could be found guilty of sexual misconduct. Jim could be found not responsible.”
However, Altman alleges the college made the informal resolution process an ever-changing process that Wilson described as “fluid.”
Altman withdrew her Title IX claims and filed a complaint with the Iowa Civil Rights Commission.
In her complaint, Altman is asking for a jury trial.
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