Brown Faces Bias Charges From Former Professor

In the shadow of sexual harassment charges from a student, a former Brown University professor is accusing the school of wrongfully dismissing him because of a disability.

Henry O. Kingsbury, previously an assistant music professor at Brown, will appear before the Rhode Island

Commission for Human Rights on Dec. 15 in the hope of resolving a complaint he originally field in March of 1994.

"Brown has behaved absolutely scandalously," Kingsbury said in an interview last week.

But the university maintains that Kingsbury's contract was not renewed because of his "behavior" and teaching ability, and for no other reason.

"Brown complied fully with its responsibilities as an employer," said Brown spokesperson Mark M. Nickel.

The controversy dates back to 1991, when Kingsbury took a medical leave of absence for surgery on a benign brain tumor. When he wanted to return in

1993, his eyesight was weaker and he had difficulty speaking, yet he felt well enough to return to teaching, he said.

A year passed before Brown renewed Kingsbury's contract. Nickel said the university was waiting for Kingsbury to pass a neurological test; Kingsbury said he took the test and Brown officials stalled on reinstating him.

Kingsbury said university officials told him the results of the test "were not satisfactory or encouraging," though, "at the time, I was in a state of considerable, rapid recovery."

That delay is "fighting issue number one," Kingsbury said.

Last year, Brown declined to renew his second three-year appointment, citing a 1991 complaint of sexual harassment by a former student and poor teaching, Nickel said. Kingsbury argues that Brown, in not renewing his contract, wrongfully discriminated against him based on his disability.

Kingsbury said he had a "a flirtatious relationship" with the student while he was a visiting professor during the 1990-91 academic year, but he maintained it was "very mutual."

According to Kingsbury, the relationship ended "traumatically" in April 1991. He said he has had no further communication with the student.

In 1993, Kingsbury said sources he would not name, but "not professors," asked him if the student had ties to the CIA. Kingsbury said he told members of her dissertation committee about the conversation, and they rebuffed him.

"I was very startled to be asked that about a woman I used to have a crush on," Kingsbury said.

Within months, he said, Brown reprimanded him on the basis of the 1991 complaint, which he said he didn't know about until 1993.

"The university has no comment on the case itself, but an allegation like that was not a factor," Nickel said.

Nickel said Brown's decision not to renew Kingsbury's contract was voted on by the music department based on an evaluation of his performance as a professor.

A legal spokesperson for the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights refused to comment on the current status of the complaint.

She said the commission has the authority to award back pay, attorney's fees and damages for pain and suffering to an employee. The commission can also force an employer to reinstate a terminated employee, she said.

Kingsbury said he is currently unemployed and spending his time preparing for the upcoming hearing

1993, his eyesight was weaker and he had difficulty speaking, yet he felt well enough to return to teaching, he said.

A year passed before Brown renewed Kingsbury's contract. Nickel said the university was waiting for Kingsbury to pass a neurological test; Kingsbury said he took the test and Brown officials stalled on reinstating him.

Kingsbury said university officials told him the results of the test "were not satisfactory or encouraging," though, "at the time, I was in a state of considerable, rapid recovery."

That delay is "fighting issue number one," Kingsbury said.

Last year, Brown declined to renew his second three-year appointment, citing a 1991 complaint of sexual harassment by a former student and poor teaching, Nickel said. Kingsbury argues that Brown, in not renewing his contract, wrongfully discriminated against him based on his disability.

Kingsbury said he had a "a flirtatious relationship" with the student while he was a visiting professor during the 1990-91 academic year, but he maintained it was "very mutual."

According to Kingsbury, the relationship ended "traumatically" in April 1991. He said he has had no further communication with the student.

In 1993, Kingsbury said sources he would not name, but "not professors," asked him if the student had ties to the CIA. Kingsbury said he told members of her dissertation committee about the conversation, and they rebuffed him.

"I was very startled to be asked that about a woman I used to have a crush on," Kingsbury said.

Within months, he said, Brown reprimanded him on the basis of the 1991 complaint, which he said he didn't know about until 1993.

"The university has no comment on the case itself, but an allegation like that was not a factor," Nickel said.

Nickel said Brown's decision not to renew Kingsbury's contract was voted on by the music department based on an evaluation of his performance as a professor.

A legal spokesperson for the Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights refused to comment on the current status of the complaint.

She said the commission has the authority to award back pay, attorney's fees and damages for pain and suffering to an employee. The commission can also force an employer to reinstate a terminated employee, she said.

Kingsbury said he is currently unemployed and spending his time preparing for the upcoming hearing