Former Harvard Employee Eric Clopper Sues University, The Crimson
I'm filing this one under "things I missed by going to community college." Harvard does make nice bedframes though.
Former Harvard Employee Eric Clopper Sues University, The Crimson
By Jasper G. Goodman, Crimson Staff Writer
Yesterday
Eric Clopper, a former systems administrator at Harvard, filed a lawsuit against the University, The Harvard Crimson, and 10 unnamed donors and alumni in federal court Monday over the schools response to a 2018 performance that he held at Sanders Theatre and the newspapers coverage of the event.
Clopper, who formerly worked at the language resource center in Lamont Library, accused Harvard and The Crimson of defamation and libel, violating the Massachusetts Civil Rights Act, and other actions that justify damages. His complaint also alleged the University violated Cloppers First Amendment rights.
On May 1, 2018, Clopper held an event at Sanders Theatre aimed at criticizing the practice of circumcision. At various points during the performance, he stripped nude and referred to Jewish people as an unmasked genital mutilation cult.
The Crimson reported on May 3 that the University was reviewing Cloppers show. The next day,
the newspaper reported that he planned the event during work hours at Harvard. Harvard terminated Cloppers employment on July 12, according to the suit.
The suit alleged that Harvard breached the express and implied employment agreement with him by accusing him of having acted improperly and threatening to fire him for having worked on the Play occasionally at Harvard. Clopper also claimed a Sanders Theatre staffer physically and threateningly prevented him from returning to the stage to deliver concluding remarks.
Clopper, who is Jewish, alleged in the suit that The Crimsons characterization of his show as a nude, anti-Semitic rant which appeared in the headline of the papers May 3, 2018 story was a patent falsehood.
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