Columbia Professor Retires in Settlement of Sexual Harassment Lawsuit

Dr. William V. Harris, a renowned Greco-Roman historian and longtime professor at Columbia University, retired on Monday as part of the settlement of a sexual harassment lawsuit.

The retirement, which Columbia announced in an email to students and faculty members on Monday afternoon, came nearly three months after an anonymous graduate student filed a lawsuit against Dr. Harris alleging that he had kissed and groped her repeatedly while he was her academic mentor, and then disparaged her to colleagues when she rebuffed his advances. The student, identified only as Jane Doe, also sued the university for what she called its “deliberate indifference” to her complaints about him.

After the lawsuit was filed on Oct. 2, Dr. Harris wrote in an email to The New York Times that he had no comment and referred a reporter to Columbia’s lawyers. In an email late Monday night Dr. Harris referred The Times to his lawyer and a lawyer for Columbia, neither of whom could immediately be reached for comment.

The terms of the settlement were not immediately known.

In a statement, David Sanford, Jane Doe’s lawyer, called the settlement “excellent.” ...