Princeton professor fired after failing to comply with investigation into past sexual relationship

A professor at Princeton University was fired immediately after an investigation found he had not been fully honest or cooperative in a probe into a past sexual relationship with an undergraduate.

Princeton said in a statement that Joshua Katz, a classics professor, had been dismissed based on a detailed written complaint from an alumna who had a consensual relationship with Dr. Katz while she was an undergraduate under his academic supervision. The former student filed a complaint in 2021 about the relationship, which took place in 2006 and 2007.

The decision to move forward with firing Katz came days after the university's president, Christopher Eisgruber, recommended that the school's board of trustees terminate Katz's employment in a letter, according to The Wall Street Journal.

According to the newspaper, the letter was based on a report written by professor Gene Jarrett last November and signed by faculty dean Gene Jarrett.

The report said Katz had failed to cooperate with investigators in 2018 about the consensual sexual relationship he had with the student starting in 2006, after her junior year, and continuing until her graduation, The Wall Street Journal reported.

The 2018 probe found that Katz had violated school policy by entering into a sexual relationship with a student. He was suspended for a year without pay by Princeton.

The investigation, prompted by the student's letter, found several instances where Katz misrepresented facts or failed to be straightforward during the 2018 probe, including a successful effort to discourage the alumna from participating and cooperating after she expressed the intent to do so, Princeton said in its statement.

The school said Katz had exposed the student to harm by discouraging her from seeking mental health care despite her being in distress in what it described as an effort to conceal a relationship he knew was prohibited. It said these actions were not only egregious violations of University policy, but also completely inconsistent with his obligations as a member of the faculty.

The push to fire him was a political move, with some accusing Princeton of punishing him for speaking out against some of the school's efforts to address its racist history in the wake of the police killing of George Floyd.

In July 2020, Katz wrote an online essay criticizing an open letter signed by students and faculty calling for a review of racism at Princeton. He said that he was embarrassed for colleagues who signed the letter, saying its demands could pose a potential threat to free speech.

The professor called the Black Justice League at Princeton a terrorist organization, drawing condemnation from Eisgruber, who branded Katz's comments irresponsible and offensive in an editorial published days later. Princeton did not make any mention of Katz's comments in its statement on Monday.

The professor told The New York Times he was angry and heartbroken over his firing. He said Princeton had treated him with gross unfairness after he had given his entire career to the school.

Katz's attorney didn't respond immediately to a request for comment.