History instructor had sex with student, groped another on UNCC trip, lawsuit says
A religion historian at UNC Charlotte remains in the classroom despite what a new federal lawsuit describes as his improper sexual behavior toward two female students during a 2017 university-sponsored trip to the Holy Land.
Both women, according to the court document, filed formal complaints with the school against Robert McEachnie, a faculty member in the university’s Department of History who specializes in antiquity, including ancient religions.
In the first incident, McEachnie’s alleged victim, identified in the lawsuit by the initials “A.W.,” said the faculty member made sexual overtures and eventually groped her during the school trip to Israel in the summer of 2017. McEachnie then threatened her chances of getting into graduate school if she reported his behavior, which she did upon her return to campus in early July of that year, the lawsuit claims.
The other student, identified as ”L.S.,” filed her complaint with UNCC in 2019. She’s also gone to court.
Her federal lawsuit accuses McEachnie of initiating a sexual relationship with her during the Holy Land trip, an affair that continued while the pair traveled together in Europe and for several months after they returned to Charlotte.
The lawsuit names McEachnie, the school, and the UNC System as defendants, accusing them of violating her Title IX protections against sexual discrimination on campus and her 14th Amendment right to equal protection under the law, as well as intentional infliction of emotional distress.
A.W. is mentioned in the lawsuit but had no role in filing it.
McEachnie did not respond to Observer emails seeking comment. An attempt to reach him by phone Wednesday went immediately to a recording saying he was not accepting calls. His attorney, Marc Gustafson of Charlotte, also did not respond to an Observer email.
The state Attorney General’s Office, which is representing UNCC and the university system in the case, said this week that it had no comment.
UNCC spokeswoman Buffie Stephens said the school does not discuss pending legal cases, adding: “UNC Charlotte will be substantively addressing the claim in the university court filing.”
The school declined an Observer request for summaries of any disciplinary measures taken against McEachnie, information on how the university handled the women’s complaints, and whether school officials thought it is safe to keep the teacher in the classroom or had taken preventative steps to protect his students from similar behavior.
Charlotte attorney Julie Fosbinder, who filed the lawsuit for L.S., says university officials mishandled the complaints of both female students and also erred in not sufficiently punishing McEachnie. She says L.S. still suffers psychological problems stemming from the affair with her former teacher.
“Mr. McEachnie continues to serve as a lecturer with access to students as he had before,” Fosbinder said. “(My client) doesn’t believe that’s an appropriate place for him to be.”
The plaintiff’s name is included in the lawsuit. The Observer generally does not identify victims of alleged sexual misconduct and assault, and is referring to the student by her initials, L.S.
L.S., according to her lawsuit, remains a UNCC student. Fosbinder said her client did not want to discuss her experiences with a reporter. The Observer contacted a woman believed to be A.W., who declined to confirm her identity or comment further.
‘Improper and ... unethical’
Sexually related complaints on school campuses remain an explosive legal and political issue, but such cases normally involve one student accusing another. Student accusations against their teachers or coaches, however, are also common. The Academic Sexual Misconduct Database lists more than 1,100 resolved or ongoing cases involving sexual misconduct by faculty, school administrators or staff.
UNCC policy 101.3 addresses what relationships are acceptable between university employees and university students, without banning them.
“Central to the educational mission of the University is the establishment of close working relationships between those who teach and those who learn,” the policy reads.
“Although such relationships are encouraged, it is improper and professionally unethical for a faculty member, instructional assistant, or other University employee to participate in the instruction, evaluation, or supervision of a student with whom there is an amorous relationship or familial relationship. (university-added italics).”
In the wake of L.S.’s allegations to campus authorities, McEachnie was demoted from senior lecturer to lecturer, denied future promotions, banned from taking students to study abroad and was required to undertake mandatory training, according to a person familiar with the case who was not authorized to discuss the details of the school’s punishment.
‘Grooming’ for a relationship
The lawsuit also calls into question how the university handled the case of one of the students.
According to the lawsuit, A.W. filed her complaint against McEachnie in July 2017 with his department head. The department head later stated that he never reported it to his superiors, as required, “because he had misunderstood his obligations” under university policy, the lawsuit says.
As a result, “(A.W.’s) allegations were not even given a cursory investigation in 2017,” the lawsuit claims, “and would have been permanently hidden had (L.S.) not come forward with her own complaint in 2019.”
According to the lawsuit, McEachnie had been “grooming” L.S. for a relationship months before the university group left for the Holy Land.
It started after L.S., a Religious Studies major, enrolled in McEachnie’s Ancient Christianities class, the lawsuit alleges. During private meetings in his office, the teacher encouraged the student, then 21, to speak openly about her personal life, including her struggles with anxiety and other psychological issues. Eventually, he shared details of his own, including “his marital situation and his sexual habits and propensities,” the lawsuit claims.
In time, McEachnie created false usernames so the pair could communicate over social media, according to the lawsuit. He invited L.S. and another student to his home for dinners with his wife and children.
Their sexual relationship began in Israel, the lawsuit claims. After the summer program ended, McEachnie persuaded L.S. to stay. The couple traveled to Turkey and eventually to London. All the while, according to the complaint, the teacher’s control of his student deepened.
Back in Charlotte, the complaint alleges, McEachnie pressured L.S. into dropping two of his classes so he would not violate the school’s relationship policy and they could stay together. He showed her other students’ papers and grades, according to the lawsuit “implying that he could do the same with her private information.”
L.S., who began seeing a therapist upon her return to campus, ended the relationship in November 2017, the lawsuit alleges.
After earning a degree in religious studies in 2018, she’s back at UNCC working toward a new degree in history and a teacher’s certificate.
Fosbinder, the attorney for L.S., said it took time for her client first to recover from the affair, then to find the courage to come forward with her complaint.
“People who have been the victim of sexual harassment often feel they are alone, ashamed at what happened, and too vulnerable to talk about it,” Fosbinder said. “Because of that, when someone does come forward, they should be heard. There are always dozens who have not spoken out.”
This story was originally published March 3, 2021 at 3:30 PM.
