A former research associate at the School of Design filed a lawsuit against Penn alleging sex-based discrimination and retaliation.
Credit: Jesse ZhangA former research associate and graduate of the Stuart Weitzman School of Design filed a lawsuit on March 4, alleging that the University failed to protect her from sex-based discrimination.
The lawsuit — filed by 2022 School of Design graduate Sophia O’Neill in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania — claims that Penn violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the Philadelphia Fair Practices Ordinance by failing to “remedy the sex-based harassment that plagued [O’Neill’s] work environment” and engaging in “retaliatory actions” against O’Neill for reporting the harassment.
“This case is about Penn’s refusal to protect a young female employee from sexual harassment by a mentally unstable male student, which forced her to choose between her safety and her job. Penn then retaliated against its devoted and accomplished former employee for filing a complaint about the sexual harassment by giving negative references to her prospective employers,” the lawsuit reads.
“We look forward to presenting this case to a jury, and holding Penn accountable for its willful violations of Ms. O’Neill’s civil rights,” O’Neill’s attorney wrote in a statement to The Daily Pennsylvanian.
A University spokesperson declined to comment.
According to the lawsuit, O’Neill began as a research associate in the School of Design’s Advanced Research & Innovation Robotics Lab shortly after her graduation from Penn. O’Neill also began working as a part-time teaching assistant for Assistant Professor Robert Stuart-Smith.
As part of her work as a teaching assistant, the suit alleges, O’Neill was assigned to supervise a “mentally unstable male student” who had previously engaged in “sex-based harassment” of fellow students. Stuart-Smith did not respond to requests for comment.
The suit alleges that a student in Stuart-Smith’s design studio sent a series of harassing messages to O’Neill and describes an incident where HR “physically intimidated O’Neill by blocking her way.” The suit also states that O’Neill was previously subjected to “sexist, belittling, and harassing behavior” by a former lab manager.
Due to these incidents, the lawsuit states that O’Neill met with members of the Student Services offices in which Associate Director for Student Support Kayla Richards and Director of Special Services Paige Wigginton proposed remedial measures that the lawsuit describes as “inadequate to the situation.”
O’Neill then declined to return to work until additional steps were taken.
The suit states that in March 2023, Wigginton informed O’Neill that no additional measures would be taken and that she was expected to return to work. The suit claims that O’Neill then attempted to transfer to work under Assistant Professor of Architecture Masoud Akbarzadeh in the Polyhedral Structures Laboratory, but Stuart-Smith objected to the transfer unless O’Neill also remained in her role as his teaching assistant, which would “require contact with [O’Neill’s] harasser.” O’Neill then informed Penn administrators that she could not continue in her role, leading to her termination.
Akbarzadeh did not respond to a request for comment.
“Penn gave Ms. O’Neill an ultimatum to return to work and teach the harassing student, or be deemed to have abandoned her job, forcing her to choose between her job and her safety,” a press release from Julie Uebler, O’Neill’s attorney, read.
O’Neill then filed an administrative complaint with the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations against Penn. In July of 2023, O’Neill received a contract for a position with Hyperion Robotics in Espoo, Finland. The suit alleges that the offer was later withdrawn by email and that the decision was attributed to “understanding new information about your past-work with your listed references.”
The lawsuit claims that Stuart-Smith was the only work-related reference O’Neill listed and alleges that he gave a negative reference “in retaliation for filing an administrative complaint of discrimination.”
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