You Haven’t Heard the Last of That Woman

As if her turn in the limelight as President Bill Clinton’s object of desire wasn’t enough, “Monica Lewinsky” now spells trouble for a retired professor.

A federal judge has ruled that referring to someone by the name of the former White House intern can be considered sexual harassment.

And that means Inbal Hayut can proceed with her lawsuit, filed last year, against Alexander K. Young, a former political-science professor at the State University of New York at New Paltz. Ms. Hayut contends that Mr. Young created a sexually hostile environment by referring to her as “Monica” in two courses in which she was enrolled in the fall of 1998, when the presidential sex scandal was reaching a fever pitch. She charges that the teasing hurt her morale and her grades, causing her to drop out. She is also suing the university for doing nothing about the incidents.

Mr. Young and the university have denied any wrongdoing, arguing that the name-calling was not sexual harassment.

But a federal district judge, David N. Hurd, disagreed, noting that Mr. Young had “made comments such as ‘How was your weekend with Bill?’ and ‘Shut up, Monica. I’ll give you a cigar later’” in front of the entire class.

Mr. Young, who retired in 1999, has said he made the references because Ms. Hayut resembled Ms. Lewinsky. “He feels bad that it may have been tasteless or politically incorrect, but he certainly had no intention of making it a sexual thing,” said Kenneth Kelly, his lawyer.

Monica Lewinsky’s spokeswoman told the New York Post that “Monica is dismayed this incident ever occurred,” but added, “It’s February 2001, and when people hear her name now, they think Monica Lewinsky handbag designer, e-commerce entrepreneur, Yahoo Internet Life cover girl. ... Clearly, she has moved on and taken her good name with her.”

http://chronicle.com Section: Short Subjects Page: A10