An assistant professor at Columbia University's business school is suing the university for gender discrimination: she says that the school stood by while she was repeatedly harassed by a male colleague, and then retaliated against her when she reported the harassment. The lawsuit, filed this week in Manhattan federal court, argues that Columbia merely "pays lip service to the ideals of diversity," but in reality, the school "simply does not support or promote its female faculty the way it does men."

Enrichetta Ravina joined Columbia University in 2008 as an assistant professor of finance in the business school, and is one of a handful of academics working in a new area of finance research that analyzes how individuals handle their retirement savings. Her most significant work in this field was made possible in part by Geert Bekaert, who is the Leon G. Cooperman Professor of Finance and Economics. Bekaert provided her access to a critical data set and then began harassing her, discussing his pornography viewing habits and delving into his sex life in uncomfortable detail, the suit alleges:

"He told Ms. Ravina that he watched pornography regularly and that prostitutes were necessary to take care of a man's sex drive. He told Ms. Ravina about his sexual exploits, including sexual advances he made towards his doctor...Bekaert said the way Ms. Ravina walked was 'sexy'...Once when Ms. Ravina was alone with him in his office, Professor Bekaert forced her to read out loud a message on his mug about being 'horny'...When Ms. Ravina rebuffed Professor Bekaert's sexual advances, Professor Bekaert sabotaged Ms. Ravina's work by stalling her research."

All the while, Bekaert allegedly reminded her that he could revoke her access to the data set, thus derailing work that is set to make a major contribution to her field.

After Ravina reported the harassment in 2014, she was encouraged not to pursue any formal complaints against Bekaert, the suit says: one dean told her to "forget about" it, and another said that the complaint was akin to a "soap opera." She was eventually informed that she'd be put on paid leave for the 2015-2016 year, which would effectively halt her progress toward tenure—and then several months later, the paid leave was abruptly revoked, and the University stated that it had been a "mistake," the suit explains. The school also said that it would expedite her tenure process, giving her just one month to prepare and, the suit implies, sabotaging her likelihood of receiving tenure.

In her lawsuit, Ravina is now asking for an extension on her tenure clock, and seeking $20 million in damages from Columbia, which she says has violated her Title IX and Title VII rights.

"I never really wanted to be in this position, but this was the only thing I could do," Ravina told the Times. "I felt really betrayed. I thought the university should have solved this...The school has failed me, and it might have failed other people as well."

She is also filing a separate suit against Bekaert specifically, in New York State Supreme Court. In the meantime, the two still have to work together, and, according to Alexandra Harwin, one of Ravina's attorneys, he continues to get in the way of her publishing her research: as her superior, he holds veto power over whether or not she publishes. Without publishing, Ravina might have a much harder time getting tenure.

"The reality is that her progress on these papers has been impeded for two, going on three years now, so it has been an ongoing and serious problem that has prevented her from publishing papers at the rate she otherwise would have," Harwin said.

A Columbia spokesperson said that the university can't comment on pending litigation, but "treats allegations of harassment with the utmost seriousness." In an email to the Times, Bekaert said he was sickened that she would "manufacture false stories, statements and events and attempt to destroy my reputation...this is a sad example of no good deed goes unpunished: We collaborated for years doing research with a unique data set I had obtained from a company I worked for, and in return she fabricated a series of completely false allegations about me."

Ravina's tenure review is scheduled for the end of this month, and, according to the suit, the school has invited Bekaert to be present at that review.

Harwin said that this is yet another instance of universities—Columbia in particular—mishandling sexual harassment cases.

"We've seen a lot of news about situations in which a professor has abused his power to harass undergraduates and graduate students," she said. "This is a case involving a senior, tenured professor harassing an untenured assistant professor, and we see many of the same toxic power dynamics at play."