EAST LANSING, Mich. — A Michigan State University professor is back in the classroom after being suspended for sexual harassment.
Robert W. Wiseman of the College of Osteopathic Medicine was sent home for six weeks after multiple women accused him of staring at their breasts and making sexual comments.
Reclaim MSU is disappointed he only got six weeks. A spokeswoman told said the punishment needed to be harsher based on the details included in the 50-page investigative report.
"He created a hostile environment for women in his department for 16 years, and he got six weeks suspension? It looks really bad for MSU," Anna Pegler-Gordon said. She is also a professor at MSU.
Pegler-Gordon added she was upset by the findings of the investigation, but also that this keeps happening.
"Oh no, not again, more problems at MSU that just really show that this goes a lot deeper than just one person."
One claimant says Wiseman "told her kinky things about his sex toys and a sex swing he bought." Another says she was talking about bruises on her knees from playing volleyball when Wiseman "jumped into the conversation and told her 'oh sure, that's how you got bruises on your knees.'"
"Each time that this comes out there is a little bit of shock. You just sort of realize that so many more women have gone through this kind of hostile environment at MSU," Pegler-Gordon said.
Another woman told investigators that Wiseman would constantly tell 'sex-related stories' or make 'awkward and inappropriate' comments." One woman even said the professor would stare at women's 'chest area' and when she and other's would wear a skirt or shorts, Wisman said: "is that seat going to be wet when you get up?"
"I was really shocked by what this professor said...but I was also really shocked by what he said to the Title IX investigators because he seemed to have no remorse."
Several of the women even added that he made them feel powerless. One said when Wiseman found out she'd talked about it and confronted her and said, "he made me feel threatened like I was in trouble."
Professor Pegler-Gordon hopes this will make people at the university wake up, and make some changes.
"It's about the transparency, the accountability."
News 10 asked a Michigan State spokeswoman if the university is supposed to tell students when a professor is under investigation or has been suspended in the past. We will let you know when we get a response.
We also reached out to Robert W. Wiseman for comment and have not gotten a response.
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