Former Penn State Assistant Research Professor Michael Nassry filed a civil lawsuit against Penn State and several faculty members regarding alleged “unlawful sex discrimination, retaliation, whistleblowing, and related claims,” according to court documents.

Nassry filed a suit on Friday, January 27, against then-Penn State Executive Vice President and Provost Nick Jones, College of Earth and Mineral Sciences Dean Lee Kump, Geography Professor Cynthia Brewer, Research Professor and Director of the Chesapeake Research Consortium Denice Wardrop, and Associate Research Professor Sarah Chamberlain. All parties were allegedly involved in the harassment put upon Nassry.

For several years, Nassry allegedly faced threats and had his research plagiarized by his supervisor, Wardrop. Additionally, he allegedly was harassed by his coworker, Chamberlain, which forced Nassry to resign from his full-time position.

According to court documents, Nassry is seeking “declaratory, injunctive, monetary and other appropriate relief” for his poor treatment while working at the university.

In October 2022, Nassry filed several complaints of gender discrimination and retaliation with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) against the defending parties. Following the complaints, he issued a “right to sue” after the EEOC was unable to solve the controversy. However, his initial reporting began in the spring of 2019.

Nassry earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Penn State before getting his Ph.D. from Virginia Tech. He was hired as a postdoctoral scholar at Penn State on May 6, 2013, after working at a private consulting firm.

At Penn State, Nassry served as an expert for several major research projects, taught undergraduate classes for the College of Earth and Mineral Sciences and the College of Agriculture, advised six minors, and was awarded a grant which allowed him to conduct research in Peru and Alaska with his students.

During his time as a researcher, Chamberlain allegedly harassed him with many attempts to romantically advance over the course of three years, according to court documents. These events occurred around campus, meetings, and professional conferences elsewhere.

Due to “repeated unnecessary and unwanted calls,” Nassry ended up blocking Chamberlain’s number and reported the harassment to his supervisor Denice Wardrop, according to court documents.

Nassry reported the incidents to Wardrop on several accounts, however, she allegedly ignored them and made up excuses for Chamberlain to explain why she wouldn’t be punished or fired.

Chamberlain was allegedly known for her drinking problems and advances toward Nassry, according to documentation.

He later became aware of Wardrop’s history of playing “matchmaker” with her staff and intended to do so with Nassry and Chamberlain without his knowledge.

According to court documents, the retaliation and workplace discrimination “intensified” over the years.

In addition to the harassment, Wardrop allegedly allowed several of her students to credit Nassry’s work as her own in several publications. The behavior continued even after Nassry confronted her and after Wardrop promised his work would be properly credited in the future.

In July 2018, Wardrop was promoted to Nassry’s direct supervisor on projects he had been working on, leading her to continue retaliation against him by “being removed off funded projects, assigned large amounts of unpaid administrative/service work, excluded from new projects without explanation or notification, and isolated from connections with collaborators,” court documents state. Wardrop continued to manipulate and threaten Nassry during this time, allegedly.

Due to the actions of his coworkers, Nassry had no choice but to remove himself from the situation he was put in and resign, which resulted in stress impacting his health, career, and finances.

The manipulation and “mind games” by Wardrop allegedly continued even after his resignation when Nassry tried to report the harassment to several university resources and departments.

Nassry will have the opportunity to defend himself civilly in court.