A California astrophysics professor has been placed on 9 months unpaid leave after he fired a student for no apparent reason—other than the fact that he fell in love with her, and felt incapable of continuing their professional relationship.
According to a Buzzfeed News report, 38-year-old Christian Ott held intimate online conversations with a research student he closely worked with, Io Kleiser, for nearly two years; chats that initially began as after-hours inquiries into work habits and time management and gradually evolved into confusing anecdotes about his emotional woes. Another student, Susan Gossan, became Ott’s confidant, and it was to her that the professor would eventually begin confessing his love for Kleiser in chats and Skype video calls. Gossan was receptive to Ott’s struggles, and conversed with him about some of her own struggles as well.
However, the situation came to a head in June of 2015, when Ott fired Kleiser after months of making her and Gossan feel like inadequate researchers, highlighted by a message he sent Gossan questioning her devotion to her work when she made it clear that 80-hour work weeks would not work for her. Both Gossan and Kleiser filed an official complaint against Ott, which was followed by a letter from the university in September acknowledging that Kleiser’s firing was prompted by the professor’s “sexual feelings.” Ott will be allowed to return to work on July 1 of this year, while Kleiser has left the university in favor of Berkeley, where she began this month.
Gossan will remain at Caltech until 2017 to finish her work.