On Nov. 14, attorneys for Raymond Ku, professor at Case Western Reserve’s School of Law, landed fresh blows in the legal brawl between Ku, CWRU School of Law Dean Lawrence Mitchell and the university. Mitchell has taken a temporary leave of absence from his post.
The objections, filed in the Cuyahoga County Court of Common Pleas, counter a motion by Mitchell’s attorneys to strike material they deemed “immaterial, impertinent and scandalous.”

Ku, a law school professor, alleges that Mitchell and university administrators retaliated against him for attempting to report sexual harassment by Mitchell.

Mitchell’s motion, filed independent of the university’s legal team, attempted to strike instances of sexual harassment from the record. Ku’s objection maintained that the allegations had a bearing to the case, as “Defendant Mitchell’s reputation forms part of the social context that must be carefully considered in relation to reports of sexual harassment.”

In addition to the objections, Ku’s representatives included a sworn statement by Daniel Dubé, the former special assistant to Mitchell. Dubé reiterated information published in the Nov. 15 issue of The Observer, including allegations that he was complicit in retaliatory actions like monitoring Ku’s blog posts by Mitchell’s request. In addition, he clarified to the court that he was the staff member who received a raise for his actions against Ku, then an associate dean.

Also included in Dubé’s statement are details of his termination from the university, which he maintains came on the heels of his attempts to report Mitchell’s misconduct to upper level administrators.