Gould
Law
Buckle
up,
the
allegations
in
this
lawsuit
against
the
University
of
Southern
California
are
wild.
USC
Gould
School
of
Law
Professor
Camille
Rich
filed
a
federal
lawsuit
claiming
that
the
university
ignored
her
Title
IX
complaints
about
her
ex-husband’s
alleged
affair
with
a
student
—
and
then
retaliated
against
her
when
she
dared
to
speak
up.
According
to
the
lawsuit,
Camille
Rich
and
her
ex-husband,
Stephen
M.
Rich,
also
a
professor
at
USC
Law,
and
now
a
vice
dean
of
the
law
school,
divorced
in
2019.
During
the
divorce
process,
Camille
filed
a
Title
IX
complaint
alleging
Stephen
was
carrying
on
an
affair
with
a
student.
In
the
lawsuit,
Camille
says
years
of
dealing
with
a
hostile
work
environment
and
the
implosion
of
her
marriage
left
her
with
PTSD,
trauma
she
says
worsened
when
she
learned
Stephen’s
relationship
with
the
student
was
ongoing.
Stephen
later
married
the
former
student,
Deanna
Rafla-Yuan,
and
the
couple
had
twins
in
March
2020.
This
wasn’t
just
messy.
This
was
nuclear.
Camille
also
alleges
that
during
their
separation,
Stephen
attempted
to
defame
her
to
colleagues,
“painting
himself
the
tormented
victim”
in
an
effort
to
pressure
her
into
returning
to
the
marriage.
A
bold
strategy,
which
did
not,
in
fact,
pay
off.
Camille
claims
the
university
conducted
a
“perfunctory
and
sham
inquiry”
into
her
Title
IX
complaints,
dismissing
them
as
unfounded
without
even
interviewing
Stephen.
She
says
that
instead
of
protecting
her,
USC
officials
retaliated
by
denying
disability
accommodations
she
needed
for
PTSD,
refusing
to
restore
lost
pay
for
trauma-related
absences,
and
handing
her
poor
performance
evaluations.
She
also
alleges
that
then–dean
and
current
provost
Andrew
Guzman
denied
her
request
to
cap
class
sizes,
and
that
Guzman’s
personal
friendship
with
Stephen
made
impartial
review
impossible.
USC,
for
its
part,
says
oh
absolutely
not.
In
a
statement,
the
university
insisted:
“The
lawsuit
has
no
legal
merit.
We
look
forward
to
defending
the
university’s
position
in
court.”
Stephen’s
now-wife,
Rafla-Yuan,
also
issued
a
statement
pushing
back
hard
on
the
narrative,
saying
the
complaint
contains
“numerous
untrue
statements”
about
her
and
her
relationship
with
Stephen.
She
insists
their
romantic
relationship
began
after
she
left
USC
Law.
Kathryn
Rubino
is
a
Senior
Editor
at
Above
the
Law,
host
of
The
Jabot
podcast,
and
co-host
of
Thinking
Like
A
Lawyer.
AtL
tipsters
are
the
best,
so
please
connect
with
her.
Feel
free
to
email
her
with
any
tips,
questions,
or
comments
and
follow
her
on
Twitter
@Kathryn1 or
Mastodon
@[email protected].