Monday, September 01, 2003

Brad Kvederis, a student at Claremont McKenna College, a private school in Claremont, California, learned this lesson the hard way. He published for his dorm a gossip newsletter called the Wohlford Free Press. Like many college publications, the Free Press included sexually suggestive material. Depending on which account of the relevant events one reads, the newsletter was either a relatively sober, albeit profanity-laced, publication that occasionally mentioned sex or a scandal sheet reporting on the drinking and sexual hijinks of dorm residents. In any event, three female students – only one of whom was mentioned in the newsletter – filed hostile environment complaints against Kvederis with the university. Fearing liability, the university suspended Kvederis for a semester and required him to undergo sexual harassment sensitivity training.

David E. Bernstein, You Can’t Say That! (65) [uncorrected proof]