A state appeals court has upheld the suspension of a disgraced UC Berkeley architecture professor who lost his job after claims of sexual harassment from a former graduate student came to light.
AlSayyad claimed that the Regents “failed to establish a legitimate, nondiscriminatory reason” why Christ could overrule the previous committee recommendation, according to court documents. He also argued that in the years prior to his own suspension, the university “imposed penalties less harsh” on other, non-Egyptian faculty members facing similar complaints of sexual harassment.
AlSayyad referred questions to his lawyer; Siegel said both he and his client were disappointed by the ruling. According to the June ruling, Christ testified that her decision to pursue the longer suspension was based on AlSayyad’s “continuing failure to accept responsibility for the impact of [his] behavior,” which she and other administrators called “egregious.”
While the appeals court ruling is legally the end of the line for AlSayyad, Siegel added that the retired professor continues to maintain that his actions with the former graduate student were part of an “appropriate professional and personal relationship” — meaning there was no reason for him to express remorse.