A former Penn State Assistant Professor is stepping up his allegations against the University and several former co-workers after filing a Federal Court Suit against them, earlier this year. Earlier this week, Michael Nassry filing an Amended Complaint to his original Federal Court Suit that was first filed this past January. The new complaint contains more details on allegations of a hostile work environment that Nassry says he faced while working at Penn State from 2015 to 2021.
According to Nassry, he was the victim of sexual harassment and threats while having some of his work plagiarized, and then says he faced retaliation for reporting a co-worker on suspicions of embezzling research funding. He claims his complaints to Supervisors at Penn State fell on deaf ears, even at the University’s Offices of Affirmative Action, and Ethics and Compliance.
Nassry was an Assistant Research Professor and taught classes in the University’s Agriculture, and Earth and Mineral Sciences Departments. The harassment allegations stem from what Nassry terms unwanted sexual advances, that continued for several years from a female co-worker. He say the plagiarism complaints were termed a miscommunication. Nassry says Penn State’s lack of action to his complaints led him to begin looking for work elsewhere in 2020, that he was being forced out, and he eventually left the University in June of 2021.
Penn State asked the Federal Judge presiding over the case to dismiss Nassry’s suit, but the Judge so far has refused, ruling it’s a moot point with Nassry’s newly filed amended complaint.
