Depositions Begin In Extension School Case

A sexual harassment case against a Harvard Extension School official moved forward this week after a four month delay.

Individuals on both sides of the case, which involves a number of the school's top officials, have given sharply conflicting testimony.

Dean of the Extension School Michael Shinagel is expected to give a deposition today.

M. Delise Battenfield, an Extension School administrator currently on leave, charges that she was sexually harassed by Donald Ostrowski, another administrator at the school's liberal arts program.

Battenfield also alleges that Shinagel mishandled a harassment complaint she made and that she became severely ill as a result of harassment and a hostile work environment. University officials have denied that sexual harassment occurred and say the suit is groundless.

Contradicting Depositions

Adler said he took depositions in his Natick, Mass. office from Ostrowski and from Sue Weaver Schopf, another Extension School administrator named in the lawsuit.

He said depositions from Battenfield and her husband Norris E. Dickard were taken in Cambridge at Harvard's general counsel's office.

The depositions of Battenfield and Ostrowski were in "complete contradiction," Adler said.

But Adler said he anticipates no problem in winning a jury verdict in Battenfield's favor.

"She says she told others about the harassment," Adler said. "We have their testimony to support our claims, and moreover, even if there had been no harassment, she started a claim of harassment that was not investigated, and that was wrong."

Case to Go to Trial by Year's End

University Attorney Anne Taylor declined to comment on the case yesterday, acknowledging only that pre-trial disclosures from both parties have begun.

The case will probably go to trial sometime near the end of the year, depending on the case load in Middlesex Superior Court.