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20 n e w h a v e n B I Z | J a n u a r y / F e b r u a r y 2 0 1 9 n e w h a v e n b i z . c o m Ya l e M e d i c a l S c h o o l ship has brought distinction to the university, and I am delighted to convey our pleasure in your accomplishments," Yale President Peter Salovey wrote in a letter to Simons dated June 22, 2018. Several weeks aer the "uni- versity statement," on Sept. 20, 2018, Yale contacted Simons in London. Either resign from the von Zedtwitz chair, "or the appointment would be taken from him," his lawsuit states. If he loses the chair, the complaint continues, "e plaintiff will suffer catastrophic reputational harm that cannot be compensated in monetary terms in the absence of judicial relief." Yale has filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit. The final blow For Simons, Yale's reaction to the endowed chair contretemps was the last straw, and he filed his lawsuit within hours of being no- tified of Yale's decision to revoke the von Zedtwitz title. What irks Simons the most, as stated in his lawsuit filing, is that Yale seemed to act only when the New York Times wrote an article or at the behest of "self-styled activists… activists loosely affiliated with an emerging movement galvanized by an intolerance to perceived sexual misconduct, known collo- quially by the symbol "#metoo." Simons' lawsuit bears the rhe- torical stamp of his attorney, New Haven legal provocateur Norm Pattis. Pattis has made clear in his public statements where he stands on the issue of #MeToo and the resulting institutional reactions. (Neither Simons nor Pattis re- sponded to requests for comment from New Haven Biz.) In discussing sexual assault allegations against a Yale under- graduate, Pattis wrote the fol- lowing in his blog: "e Univer- sity's treatment of sexual assault complaints is appalling. Accusers are deemed victims without proof, and fundamental fairness in the investigation of these complaints is sorely lacking." Fighting the power As in many workplaces im- pacted by the #MeToo scandals, egregious offenders have been purged or punished while the structures that enabled the harass- ment remain. In the case of the Yale School of Medicine, the chief structure that has kept the climate for women chilly for decades is the predominantly male group of clinical department chairs. Serving indefinite terms at the top of departments includ- ing surgery, pharmacology and neurosurgery, these clinical chairs control the resources that go to all of the school's hundreds of junior faculty and researchers. Some of Yale's other graduate schools impose term limits on department chairs, as do other institutions. But at the Medical School, the clinical chairs in particular oen serve for decades, amassing extensive power and gathering tight-knit "old boys" networks around them. In the absence of external pres- sures, a Yale clinical chair can even survive accusations of egregious sexual harassment, as in the case of Joseph Schlessinger, chief of pharmacology at Yale School of Medicine. In 2007, the university settled a lawsuit brought by a former ad- ministrative assistant who worked with Schlessinger. The woman alleged that her boss constantly made lewd comments to her, told jokes about penis size and showed her hard-core pornography. When she brought her allegations to university officials, the woman was forced to resign. The case was settled for an undisclosed amount. Schlessinger continues to serve as chair of pharmacology and co-director of the Cancer Biology W h i l e s e r v i n g o n t h e b o a r d o f d r u g - m a k e r T r i c i d a a n d o w n i n g s h a r e s o f i t s s t o c k , A l p e r n a u t h o r e d a p o s i t i v e a r t i c l e i n a j o u r n a l o n t h e c o m p a n y 's t r e a t m e n t s w i t h o u t f u l l y d i s c l o s i n g h i s f i n a n c i a l t i e s . Continued from previous page Med-school dean Alpern has been responsive to faculty concerns about the climate for women and minorities at Yale, faculty members say, but has lost the trust of many due to his attempts to finesse the Simons imbroglio.

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