USC professor who was sued three times for sexual harassment removed from classroom

The University of South Carolina has removed from classrooms and teaching duties an art school professor who has faced multiple lawsuits for alleged sexual harassment.

“Professor David Voros will not teach classes at the University of South Carolina this spring,” USC spokesman Jeff Stensland said Tuesday. “He will instead be assigned to other duties outside of the classroom until further notice.”

Two sexual harassment lawsuits were filed against Voros in late November. Those lawsuits came from two of Voros’ colleagues who alleged USC officials enabled Voros’ behavior and protected him by failing to conduct a proper investigation. One of those suits is by Professor Pam Bowers, who was married to Voros until their 2017 divorce, court records show.

The suits follow a 2018 suit in which former graduate student Allison Dunavant accused Voros of subjecting her to manual labor, poor living conditions and sexual advances during a study abroad trip to Italy.

“I think it’s a step towards the right direction, although I think it isn’t enough,” Dunavant told The State Tuesday after USC’s announcement. “He’s still getting a salary from them and he still isn’t fired.”

Voros’ salary is $81,681, according to the S.C. Department of Administration’s website.

Dunavant said the move was still a half-step and said it was “another way in which USC is misinterpreting (its) own policies in a way that is grey and still in favor of David’s best interest.”

Jamie Misenheimer, a former USC faculty member who filed suit against Voros in November, alleged Voros cornered her in a dark closet in the art building, held a plastic head in front of her and whispered for her to look into a small window in the closet, according to the complaint.

Bowers’ complaint alleges Voros made unwanted sexual comments and advances toward her at the workplace. She alleges he then intimidated her after she reported him by standing in the doorway while she was teaching class.

All three lawsuits have accused multiple people in positions of power at USC of failing to adequately respond to their complaints, and thus enabling Voros’ alleged behavior.

USC did not comment on the specific allegations, as it does not comment on pending litigation, Stensland said. However, USC takes seriously sexual harassment complaints, requires mandatory Title IX training and has been reviewing victim advocacy and the complaint process, per a directive from President Robert Caslen, Stensland said.

“While it is not always possible to arrive at results that please all parties, we follow a thorough and consistent policy of evaluating allegations and making timely determinations based on all available evidence and due process in accordance with regulations and statute,” Stensland said in an email.

USC can only fire a tenured employee, such as Voros, under certain conditions, according to USC’s faculty manual. Some of those reasons are for the employee failing to adequately perform their duties, budget cuts, or “misconduct related directly and substantially to the fitness of the faculty member in the professional capacity as teacher or researcher,” according to the faculty manual.

This is not the first time USC has taken action against Voros, but it is the first time USC has done so publicly. While Dunavant’s 2018 lawsuit was onging, Voros unsuccessfully applied to USC for permission to take students abroad, but did so anyway. In response, then-Vice Provost Paul Allen Miller banned him from taking USC students abroad and from “participating in independent studies with students,” according to a 2019 letter obtained by The State through S.C.’s Freedom of Information Act.

This story was originally published December 22, 2020 at 9:06 AM.