BERKELEY, Calif. -- A University of California-Berkeley law school professor who knew about a sexual assault allegation months before it forced the resignation of the dean said Tuesday that she anguished over what she should do if the woman failed to file a formal complaint.\nLinda Hamilton Krieger, a professor who specializes in employment discrimination, said she found little guidance in university policy.\nThe victim delayed filing the complaint nearly two years because she was concerned about retaliation and received few answers from a university sexual harassment officer she contacted shortly after the alleged assault by John Dwyer, Krieger said.\nThe incident has raised questions about the university's sexual harassment policies and its handling of the allegation.\nKrieger, one of three female professors the victim confided in, gave the student emotional support and encouraged her to file a complaint with a Title IX officer, who is in charge of sexual harassment.\nWhen the woman failed to file a complaint quickly, Krieger researched district guidelines and sought legal counsel on what she should do. She said she had just decided to go to the UC Berkeley chancellor when the woman filed a formal complaint.\n"The faculty at this law school do take sexual harassment seriously and are willing to take steps to protect our students," Krieger said.\nDwyer, 50, announced last week he would resign Jan. 1 as dean of Boalt Hall School of Law. He could not be reached for comment but in a statement last week he described the single encounter as consensual but inappropriate.\nThe victim's attorney, Berkeley lawyer Laura Stevens, said her client has not yet gone to police because media coverage of the accusation will be more effective in preventing Dwyer from obtaining future jobs than the court system would be.\nStevens said she is still considering whether to advise her client to go to police.\n"We haven't considered that in a thorough way," she said. "It's not something that has to be decided this week."\nThe alleged assault took place in December 2000 after Dwyer drove the woman to her apartment from a bar where he had been socializing with students, Stevens said. She said the woman passed out and woke up to find Dwyer with his head on her chest and his hand in her vagina.
Stevens complained about the university's initial handling of the victim's allegation.\nThe woman contacted a Title IX officer immediately after the incident, Krieger said. "The Title IX officer at the time was unable to answer some pretty basic questions, including what is the procedure if it involves a dean," Krieger said.\nThat person also couldn't guarantee the woman that her identity would be kept confidential. When the student told Krieger this last April, Krieger explained that the Title IX officer had since been replaced and encouraged the student to call the new officer. Krieger, who had supervised the student's thesis, knew her well. She said the woman had received counseling and participated in a group for victims of sexual assault.\n"She is no flake," Krieger said. "I believe her to be credible."\nThe woman continued delaying her complaint while she studied for the California bar exam over the summer.\n"I think that speaks for itself as to why she did not file an official complaint during that time," Krieger said in a statement. "Once the bar exam was over and no formal complaint had yet been filed, I began to worry about what my legal obligations might be if she decided against filing.\n"I knew that, in the employment context, if I had information of this kind I would have an affirmative obligation to report it to an official who was in a position to take effective remedial action."\nKrieger said she searched Berkeley's Web site for guidance and found none. She called the UC general counsel's office and "they didn't know" what she should do. She sought outside legal advice and consulted with a colleague. She decided she had an obligation to notify the chancellor.\n"I was about to do that when the student filed her formal complaint."\nThe day after the school received the sexual assault complaint, on Oct. 17, it immediately began an investigation, university officials said.\nThe university plans to review the effectiveness of its sexual assault policies and education for students, staff, faculty and administrators. Currently, university officials give deans and department chairs a presentation on sexual harassment policies, spokeswoman Janet Gilmore said in a statement.\nKrieger said that she never received sexual harassment training from the university.
