Former University of Connecticut Professor of Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies, Sherry Zane, has since filed a civil action lawsuit against the University of Connecticut.
Court records show that Zane was convicted based on the pretense that up to 19 trips funded by UConn for scholarly research were used for personal family trips to places such as Disney World, Chicago, Ireland and Portugal.
In UConn’s compliance report, it is shown that at least $38,500 of school-funded travel was paid from Zane’s individual research account.
Zane said that the trip to Disney World was “to look at the experience of Disney and how it sanitizes American history,” according to Connecticut Public Radio. The trip was initially funded to visit the Central Florida State Archives, which Zane says she did not.
Zane is now suing UConn for defamation.
She is filing complaints against UConn President Radenka Maric, Director of University Compliance Kimberly Hill, Provost Anne D’Alleva and Dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Ofer Harel.
Zane is saying that Maric, Harel and D’Alleva violated the Fifth Amendment takings clause and the 14th amendment due process clause.
Zane is also saying that Hill engaged in tort of Defamation Per Se, which states that Hill’s statements are false and caused harm to Zane’s reputation, as well as UConn violating the Connecticut state law by confiscating wages.
Zane claims that she is rightfully owed by the university for teaching unpaid summer courses, among other unpaid work. She said that she is owed $80,000 in both wages and defamation compensation.
The lawsuit read, “Defendant Kimberly Hill intentionally defamed and published false statements in order to ruin the reputation of Professor Zane and get her arrested for ‘larceny’ due to Professor Zane’s insistence that she be paid her own rightfully earned wages,” according to WTNH.
Zane is on paid administrative leave until her trials are completed which has caused some backlash from UConn faculty. However, the university also faces controversies from the UConn faculty.
Up to 15 faculty members showed concern for the “unchecked power of the compliance office,” in a petition sent to Maric on March 5, according to WTNH.
Their criticisms of the compliance office focuses on the fact that Zane is still on paid administrative leave through the trials.
The faculty has said that the investigation shows “gross misunderstandings of research,” as her claims do not reflect the group’s classification of research.
When asked about the ongoing lawsuit, UConn had no comment, according to WTNH.
