George Mason Faults Professor for Sexual Talk With Students

Allegations against Todd Kashdan, a tenured psychology professor at George Mason University, have come to light through court records, The Washington Post has reported. Through an internal investigation, George Mason found that in recent years Kashdan had told sexual anecdotes to graduate students gathered in class and in a hot tub, and he took some graduate students to a strip club, where he received a lap dance.

Through its investigation, the university concluded that Kashdan did not display "appropriate professional behavior" and violated regulations against sexual or gender-based harassment. Though he denied wrongdoing, the university denied his internal appeal.

He was barred from teaching graduate courses for two years but was still allowed to teach undergraduate classes, and the campus was not notified of the findings.

Kashdan filed a lawsuit in federal court in September 2019. He alleged that George Mason's investigation was flawed, had displayed bias against men and had violated his rights to due process and free speech.

The university motioned to dismiss the suit, which a federal judge did on April 23.