LSU fires veterinary professor
An LSU School of Veterinary Medicine professor accused of sexually harassing a former student has been fired by the school, his attorney said Wednesday.
Marc Boudreaux was given a letter by the university Wednesday saying he was terminated, but the university did not say why, attorney Jill Craft said.
“It’s a nebulous set of statements, and he’s legally entitled to the reasons for proposed termination or actual termination, neither of which he’s received,” Craft said.
Boudreaux will challenge the firing in court, Craft said.
“He’s innocent of these allegations of this woman,” Craft said. “They’ve had no interaction with each other for almost 14 months.”
LSU spokeswoman Kristine Calongne said Boudreaux is no longer employed by the university.
Calongne would not confirm if Boudreaux had been terminated by LSU, citing it as a private personnel matter.
Boudreaux was previously placed on paid administrative leave, Calongne has said.
Boudreaux was a research associate and assistant director at the Biotechnology and Molecular Medicine lab at the Vet School, according to the lab’s website.
Elizabeth Lum, a 25-year-old animal science doctoral student, accused Boudreaux of sexual and physical abuse, stalking and harassment, according to a petition for a temporary restraining order filed Oct. 14.
Lum could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
A judge issued the temporary restraining order Oct. 17. It originally lasted through Oct. 26 but was extended through Wednesday, Nov. 9, according to documents filed in East Baton Rouge Parish Clerk of Court on Oct. 26.
Boudreaux extorted Lum for sex and manipulated her into staying in an abusive relationship with him by threatening to get her fired from the research lab where they both worked, Lum previously said in a telephone interview with The Advocate on Oct. 18.
Boudreaux repeatedly said he would sabotage Lum’s research at the lab — which she had worked on for four years and needed to receive her doctorate degree — if she left him, she said.
Lum said she began working at the lab to conduct her research in March 2008. She said she and Boudreaux began a friendly relationship in September 2009, and started dating in March 2010.
Lum said she then learned Boudreaux had a live-in girlfriend and tried to end the relationship, which is when the threats began.
In the petition for the original temporary restraining order, Lum said Boudreaux coerced her into a three-way relationship with him and the other woman — also a lab employee — saying he would get her fired if she refused.
Lum said Oct. 18 she tried to leave Boudreaux at least five times, but each time he would continuously harass her and threaten her at work, at her home and through text messages until she agreed to move back in with him and the other woman.
Lum said she finally left Boudreaux in September 2010.
Boudreaux went to Lum’s research advisers claiming that she was unstable and unfit to continue doing research in the lab, but her advisers did not believe the claims, she said.
Both continued working at the lab, Lum said.
Lum said she filed a sexual harassment claim with LSU sometime shortly before she filed for the restraining order.
Craft called the allegations against Boudreaux “scant.”
“He was not her supervisor,” Craft said. “There was nothing other than normal stuff you’d expect at work.”
Lum has said she discovered her apartment had been broken into and ransacked Oct. 14 — the same day she filed the petition for the temporary restraining order — and her laptop and journal were taken. The items, Lum said, contained evidence against Boudreaux.
Police spokesman Cpl. L’Jean McKneely said Wednesday the incident is still under investigation, but there is no evidence Boudreaux is the culprit.
Craft said Boudreaux did not break into Lum’s apartment.
“I can prove where he was every minute of that day,” Craft said.
This story was updated on Nov. 10, 2011 to correct Marc Boudreaux’s title from professor to researcher.