Bat Fellatio and the Ambiguity of Sexual Harassment

A male professor at the University of Cork in Ireland has been disciplined with two years of intensive monitoring and counseling after discussing a scientific paper with a female colleague. The paper titled “Fellatio in fruit bats prolongs copulation” offended the female professor, who was also given a copy. She claimed sexual harassment. Though an investigation found that no sexual harassment had occurred, the university’s president censured the male professor by imposing the two-year discipline, which has the effect of preventing the male professor from obtaining tenure.

This matter has caused a firestorm in the academic community in Europe and America. The university president has been accused of violating academic freedom, intellectual freedom, and freedom of speech. The president’s discipline has also been said to run afoul of common sense, particularly since the paper has appeared in several scientific publications.

Academics tend to experience upset when their freedoms are curbed, even more when they are punished. The implications of this case aren’t confined to academia, however. The case offers up the predicament that employers can face when trying to effectively deal with a sexual harassment claim. The predicament is amplified by a certain ambiguity surrounding the meaning of sexual harassment.

One fact that must also be considered here is that an explicit video either went with the paper originally or was added as its publication gained notoriety. So, giving a co-worker the paper necessarily involved the video.

I doubt that the male professor’s conduct amounts to sexual harassment, but conduct doesn’t have to in order for discipline to be imposed. The university president could have reasonably found that the male professor had acted inappropriately, though not committing sexual harassment. The two years of discipline seems way over the top but generally within an employer’s discretion. Employees, even in academia, aren’t free to pass around sex papers and videos, even if they’re scientific.