THE ACADEMIC found guilty of sexual harassment after he gave a paper on the sex life of bats to a female colleague has launched a High Court appeal.
Dr Dylan Evans has been given leave to apply for a full judicial review into the finding which followed an investigation by University College Cork, where he lectures in behavioural science.
In a hearing on Thursday, the scientist also won an injunction to stop UCC from taking any further disciplinary action against him.
The university has accused him of leaking confidential details of the sexual harassment investigation and bringing the college into disrepute. The investigation followed a complaint made by Italian-born Dr Rossana Salerno-Kennedy last November. She has since left the university. She claimed she was sexually harassed after Dr Evans showed her a recent study which proved – for the first time – that flat-nosed fruit bats engaged in fellatio. She also made a string of other allegations against him, which were subsequently dismissed.
Indeed, the panel that investigated Dr Evans concluded that while it did not believe he intended to sexually harass her, simply handing her the paper constituted sexual harassment.
Neither Dr Evans or Dr Kennedy – who is also known to have accused a female colleague of bullying her – were available for comment last night.
Another hearing was set for the end of June, in which both sides have to argue why there should or should not be a judicial review of UCC’s initial decision.
Counsel for UCC yesterday asked Mr Justice John Hedigan to adjourn the matter because opposition papers had only just been filed. The judge agreed to adjourn the case to July 16.
It has made a laughing stock of the university, with more than 5,000 websites around the world carrying details of the investigation against Dr Evans.
More than 3,000 academics signed an online petition calling for a reversal of the decision.
If Dr Evans wins his case, he intends to apply for costs and damages which could be substantial.
