Sujit Choudhry

Sujit Choudhry
Dean of UC Berkeley School of Law
In office
2014–2016
Preceded by Gillian Lester (Interim Dean)
Succeeded by Melissa Murray (Interim Dean)
Personal details
Born 1970
New Delhi, India[1]
Alma mater McGill University (B.Sc.)
University of Oxford (B.A.)
University of Toronto (LL.B.)
Harvard Law School (LL.M.)
Occupation Lawyer, Educator, Author
Awards Rhodes Scholarship
Cecelia Goetz Professorship
William E. Taylor Memorial Fellowship
Frank Knox Memorial Fellowship

Sujit Choudhry was Dean of the UC Berkeley School of Law from 2014 until March 2016.[2] He was the first person of Indian origin to be named dean of a top U.S. law school.[3] He was previously the Cecelia Goetz Professor of Law at New York University School of Law.[4] Choudhry is an expert in comparative constitutional law. He is a recipient of Trudeau Fellowship, Canadian equivalent of MacArthur award, one of the four Canadians to receive the fellowship in 2010.[4] Following the disclosure of a university investigation finding that he sexually harassed his executive assistant Tyann Sorrell, Choudhry was placed on an indefinite leave of absence on March 9, 2016.[5] He resigned as dean the following morning, but did not resign his position as tenured professor of law.[6] Professor Melissa Murray was named as interim dean pending a search for a permanent successor.[7]

Biography

Sujit Choudhry was born in New Delhi in 1970 as one of the two children of Nanda and Ushi, and moved to Canada when his parents migrated to that country. His father was a teacher of Economics at University of Toronto and his mother, a nursing teacher and they set their children on academic paths (Sujit's brother, Niteesh, is a member of the faculty at Harvard Medical School).[8]

Choudhry received his early education in Toronto and graduated from the University of Toronto Schools and McGill University.[8] He then obtained a law degree from the University of Oxford as a Rhodes Scholar and his LL.B. from the University of Toronto. He subsequently earned his LL.M. from Harvard Law School.[9]

He is married and the couple has a son and a daughter.[8]

Social involvement

University of California, Berkeley (1868)

Acting on behalf of the Center for Constitutional Transitions, Choudhry was involved in the Middle East affairs, first as an advisor to Libyan parliamentarians and later as an associate of the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance on projects on Middle Eastern and North African (MENA) constitutions and post Arab Spring executive-legislative relations. He has participated in symposiums on Arab constitutionalism and constitutional reforms in Turkey. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights has cited Choudhry's work in its reports.[10]

While teaching Juris Doctor and LLM students at the Constitutional Transitions Clinic,[11] he led a student contingent to Tunisia[12] to present papers at the University of Tunisia. The group had meetings with high level politicians, including President Mohamed Moncef Marzouki.[10]

Choudhry has held positions at many government and public agencies and has influenced public policies. In the medical field, he has acted as consultant to two public committees, the Romanow Commission and the Naylor Committee, the first assisting the Royal Commission on the Future of Health Care in Canada and the latter advising the National Advisory Committee on SARS and Public Health.[9]

He was one of the World Bank delegates to Sri Lanka in support of the nation's peace process. He has chaired the Advisory Board of the South Asian Legal Clinic of Ontario and sat on the Governing Toronto Advisory Panel, which assisted the reformation of the structure of municipal governance in Toronto.[9]

He has also appeared as counsel in two noted cases: Charkaoui security certificate case and the Guantanamo detainee cases of Khadr 1 and 2.[13]

Controversy

In 2016, Choudhry was served with a complaint by his former executive assistant, Tyann Sorrell, alleging sexual harassment between July 2014 and March 2015.[14] The complaint followed a July 2015 report by the University of California's Central Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (OPHD).[15]

The OPHD investigated Sorrell's complaints that Choudhry was "rude and demeaning" and demanded too much of her (including requests for tea and coffee and for assistance with personal business) and that their workplace interactions, including lingering hugs, kisses on the cheek and head, and squeezing of arms and shoulders, created a hostile work environment and constituted sexual harassment.[15] Following an investigation, the Office reviewed Choudhry's conduct and determined that the use of rude language, and requests that Sorrell bring him his tea or his lunch, was not "gender discrimination" but that his physical interactions constituted sexual harassment. During the investigation, Choudhry testified that he had hugged, kissed, and squeezed Sorrell, but claimed that there was no sexual intent. He also admitted that on at least one occasion he placed her hands on his hips, thinking that that action might calm her down.[15]

In August 2015, Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost Claude Steele chose to discipline Choudhry through a ten percent reduction in pay and by requiring him to write a letter of apology to Sorrell.[14] The investigation and its results were kept confidential, and no members of the Berkeley Law faculty or staff were informed of the behavior.

On March 8, 2016, Sorrell filed a complaint in the Superior Court of the State of California and named the Regents of the University of California as additional defendants.[14] Choudhry has stated that he disagrees with Sorrell's claims and allegations and intends to defend himself.[6] On March 10, Choudhry resigned as dean at Berkeley Law[6] but remains on the faculty under the University's tenure policy.[16] Students have published a letter demanding Choudhry's immediate resignation from both his administrative and faculty positions.[17]

The controversy garnered national[18] and international[19] attention. The reporting quickly expanded from covering Choudhry specifically to the history of tolerance of sexual harassment and violence by Berkeley's administration and faculty.[20] The added media attention triggered a series of high profile responses from both the University of California Office of the President and the Berkeley administration.[21]

On March 22, 2016, Professor Melissa Murray was appointed interim dean.[22]

Positions held

Choudhry has served on many positions during his career.

Robarts Library, University of Toronto.

Awards and recognitions

Sujit choudhry has received several recognitions such as:

Books and publications

Sujit Choudhry has published books, over 70 articles, papers and reports on comparative constitutional law, detailing his studies on methods to convert civil war torn nations into peaceful democracies, with special emphasis on multi-racial, multi ethnic societies.[4]

He is presently working on a book for Oxford University Press, Oxford Handbook of Indian Constitutional Law in association with Pratap Bhanu Mehta.[1]

References

  1. 1 2 Chidanand Rajghatta. "Indian-origin scholar Sujit Choudhry becomes dean of top US law school". Articles.economictimes.indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  2. ↑ Smith, Taryn. "UC Berkeley School of Law announces new dean". The Daily Californian. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  3. ↑ Rajghatta, Chidanand. "Indian-origin scholar Sujit Choudhry becomes dean of top US law school". The Economic Times. Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "berkeley". Retrieved 25 August 2015.
  5. ↑ Bever, Lindsey (2012-12-14). "U.C. Berkeley Law dean on ‘indefinite leave of absence’ after sexual harassment suit". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  6. 1 2 3 Svrluga, Susan (2012-12-14). "Berkeley law school dean resigns after sexual harassment complaint". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  7. ↑ "Faculty Profiles | Berkeley Law". Law.berkeley.edu. 2015-04-10. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  8. 1 2 3 Frey, Jennifer. "Introducing Sujit Choudhry | NYU Law Magazine". Blogs.law.nyu.edu. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 "Archived copy". Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2014.
  10. 1 2 3 "Sujit Choudhry named next dean of Berkeley Law | NYU School of Law". Law.nyu.edu. 2014-05-06. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  11. ↑ CT Clinic. "CT Clinic". Constitutional Transitions. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  12. ↑ "Constitutional Transitions Clinic visits Tunisia to confer with president | NYU School of Law". Law.nyu.edu. 2013-04-22. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  13. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Sujit Choudhry | Fondation Trudeau". Trudeaufoundation.ca. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  14. 1 2 3 "2016.03.08 Choudhry Complaint". Scribd.com. 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  15. 1 2 3 "Choudhry Investigation Report 7-7-15 - REDACTED". Scribd.com. 2016-03-09. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  16. ↑ "UC Berkeley Law School Dean Accused Of Sexual Harassment Resigns « CBS San Francisco". Sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com. 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  17. ↑ "#MySafeBerkeley – The Dean of UC Berkeley Law sexually harassed a member of his staff. The University's response was inappropriate & inadequate. We, the students, demand accountability & transparency". Mysafeberkeley.wordpress.com. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  18. ↑ "Berkeley Law School Dean Was Harasser, a Suit Says". The New York Times. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  19. ↑ "UC Berkeley law dean resigns over sexual harassment lawsuit | US news". The Guardian. 2016-03-10. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  20. ↑ Asimov, Nanette. "UC Berkeley has history of tolerating sexual harassment". San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  21. ↑ Julia Carrie Wong. "UC Berkeley investigates 26 more cases of sexual misconduct amid scandal | US news". The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-04-11.
  22. ↑ https://berkeleylaw.wufoo.com/forms/journal-subscription-payment/

External links

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