Jed Rubenfeld (Photo by Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images)
Well, the shoe we’ve been waiting to drop for two years has finally hit the ground. Way back in 2018, Above the Law told you about the internal investigation that Yale Law School was conducting on celebrity law professor Jed Rubenfeld based on allegations of harassment and inappropriate behavior. It seems YLS has, at long last, come to a conclusion on the allegations.
As reported by New York Magazine, faculty received word earlier this week that Professor Jed Rubenfeld “will leave his position as a member of the YLS faculty for a two-year period, effective immediately,” and that upon his return, Rubenfeld cannot teach “small group or required courses. He will be restricted in social gatherings with students.”
The investigation reportedly found a disturbing pattern:
Three people familiar with the investigation that led to Rubenfeld’s suspension said it stemmed from the university finding a pattern of sexual harassment of several students. The allegations, which spanned decades, included verbal harassment, unwanted touching, and attempted kissing, both in the classroom and at parties at Rubenfeld’s home.
As with any behavior that has allegedly spanned decades, there’ve been reports that Rubenfeld’s behavior towards women was an “open secret” within the Yale Law community. The allegations of “boundary crossing” have been repeated to us via anonymous emails, texts, and DMs from alumni that are known to us but do not want to go on the record.
Rubenfeld made extensive comments to New York Magazine about his suspension:
In a phone conversation Tuesday, Rubenfeld told me, “I absolutely, unequivocally, 100 percent deny that I ever sexually harassed anyone, whether verbally or otherwise. Yes, I’ve said stupid things that I regret over the course of my 30 years as professor, and no professor who’s taught as long as I have that I know doesn’t have things that they regret that they said.”
He added, “Ironically, I have written about the unreliability of the campus Title IX procedures. I never expected to go through one of them myself.”
In 2014, for example, Rubenfeld wrote an op-ed for the New York Times that said that the university that puts in place affirmative-consent standards “encourages people to think of themselves as sexual assault victims when there was no assault” and that it is “illogical” to claim “intercourse with someone ‘under the influence’ of alcohol is always rape.”Rubenfeld said Tuesday, “I think subsequent to me having written some controversial articles about sexual assault, that I became a target of people making false allegations against me.” Who was making these false allegations, exactly? “I don’t know,” Rubenfeld said, “because of confidentiality. Identities were not revealed to me.”
Except, as NY Mag notes, that part about not knowing the identities of his accusers isn’t true. Yale policy explicitly requires complainants identities be revealed. And one of the complainants told NY Mag exactly that:
“License to write about sexual harassment is not license to sexually harass,” [an accuser told New York Magazine]. “I reported because I was sexually harassed. Now he’s being dishonest about even this aspect of the Title IX process. For example, as Yale’s policy requires, I identified myself to him. I had to, and I did so at considerable risk given his influence in the legal community.”
Rubenfeld is married to fellow YLS professor and Battle Hymn of the Tiger Mother, author, Amy Chua. Chua, an influential member of the YLS clerkship committee, and Rubenefeld reportedly told a number of women Yale Law students that Judge Brett Kavanaugh prefers clerks with “a certain look.” And Chua reportedly said it’s “no accident” that Kavanaugh’s clerks “look like models.” Chua has denied those allegations.
YLS Dean Heather Gerken said in a message to the law school community:
“While we cannot comment on the existence of investigations or complaints, the Law School and the University thoroughly investigate all complaints regarding violations of University rules and the University adjudicates them whenever it is appropriate to do so.” She added, “As Dean, I take this responsibility extraordinarily seriously.”
Kathryn Rubino is a Senior Editor at Above the Law, and host of The Jabot podcast. 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).