Sexual Harassment Battle Fails to Unseat JSC Professor

A humanities professor at Johnson State College accused of sexually harassing at least one student last year is still teaching classes.

According to a JSC report obtained by The Critic dated May 17, 2012, JSC student Nicole Daigneault, 32, of St. Johnsbury, filed a formal complaint of sexual harassment against Professor Fred Wiseman in mid-March. The college opened an investigation and reported findings nearly two months later.

"There was an inherent power relationship between Professor Wiseman and Nicole Daigneault because she was his student," the report said.

It was a relationship that Daigneault said Wiseman abused. And the college agreed.

"On two occasions, Professor Wiseman expressed to Ms. Daigneault that he loved her," the report said.

What started as a normal professor-student relationship evolved into something more, something that became increasingly uncomfortable for her, Daigneault said. 

"He found out I was the descendant of a grand chief," Daigneault said. "And that's what got him interested in me."

Daigneault said that Wiseman asked her to participate in a spirituality mentorship, which included meetings outside the classroom.

"We'd meet and discuss things about class and spirituality," she said.

"A couple months into it, it just started getting a little uncomfortable," she said. "The things he was talking about I considered to be inappropriate and personal stuff."

The personal details grew, and so did the professor's presence.

"He'd talk about his personal life - sexual things, " she said. "It got to the point where he was coveting all of my time. He wanted my (breaks) between my classes, he'd show up at my apartment and be there waiting."

On a day in late February, Wiseman drove Daigneault and her 8-year-old daughter to a day care facility. When picking up her daughter from the facility, Daigneault said Wiseman allegedly threatened to lock her in his car and tried to kiss her.

Daigneault also said that Wiseman began to write journal entries about her after their meetings, one of which contained writing that he had envisioned "seeing her naked."

According to Daigneault, there was another argument during Wiseman's class on March 7. According to the report, investigators determined there was a "very inappropriate crossing of faculty/student boundaries, at the very least," and  "unwanted physical contact" had taken place.

In addition, the report said Wiseman took hold of and kissed Daigneault's wrist - without her permission - on campus.
 

Daigneault told The Critic it was an emotional moment.

"He broke down," she said.

It was this incident, Daigneault said, that caused her to withdraw from Wiseman's class at JSC, one of the five Vermont State Colleges.

The JSC investigation concluded that Wiseman had violated two parts of the Vermont State College (VSC) Policy 311, which applies to all employees. Investigators said that, "harassment based on sex as a protected category occurred," and that "there is ample evidence of 'Related Unprofessional Conduct.'"

In a letter to Daigneault from JSC President Barbara Murphy, also dated May 17, Murphy wrote "...the College investigators have concluded their work and I have accepted their conclusions."

Murphy also promised action.

"We will initiate the next steps set forth in [the] Policy," she said.

VSC's Policy 311 states that, "inappropriate sexual relationships between staff and students, although they may not rise to the level of sexual harassment, are prohibited." It goes on to say that "violation of these prohibitions is grounds for discipline up to and including termination ... of an employee."

The policy also mandates that the college "...takes prompt and appropriate remedial action reasonably calculated to stop the misconduct. "

Despite finding "ample evidence of 'Related Unprofessional Conduct,'" Wiseman is still teaching at JSC. According to official sources at the college, however, he is no longer a department chair.

His continued employment doesn't sit well with Daigneault, and her attorney.

"The college has had six months to provide some remedy to Nicole, and there hasn't been one," saidDavid Sleigh, Daigneault's attorney.

Sleigh, who is also a part-time instructor at Lyndon State College, said that his client expects to bring an action against JSC, seeking damages for violations of Vermont's Public Accommodation Act.

President Murphy said the college is acting properly.

"All the actions we may take in any particular case may not be readily apparent for a variety of reasons," Murphy told The Critic, "including confidentiality of student and personnel matters."

Daigneault said she intends to pursue her complaint against the college.  

"I am standing up for my moral principles," Daigneault said.

Multiple attempts to reach Professor Wiseman, including calls to his office and emails requesting comment, were unsuccessful.