Attention, please! A piece I have been working on for many months is out now at @reason. It’s about a #MeToo case at the University of Rochester that it not what it seems. reason.com/2022/03/14/how…
The so-called “predator” in this case is Florian Jaeger— or as @MotherJones called him, a “lecherous professor” who “made life hell” for students and colleagues alike. Sounds bad, right? motherjones.com/politics/2017/…
And yet, 4 separate investigations looked into Florian’s behavior and each one found that not only did he *not* violate university policy, they did find that his accusers repeatedly misrepresented both him and the very people they claimed were his victims. reason.com/2022/03/14/how…
One example: His accusers claimed that a student cried in a professor’s office because of Florian’s behavior. When investors interviewed her, she said she was crying because her sister has been in a car accident. reason.com/2022/03/14/how…
The very women Jaeger’s accusers said were his victims objected to this portrayal, or as one called it to investigators, the “damsel in distress” narrative (and please note the irony of non-consensually portraying someone as a victim of a consensual relationship) 
Not only that, investigators also found that his accusers repeatedly violated confidentiality and spread rumors and misinformation all over UR and beyond. This, along with media attention, helped destroy Florian’s career and make him a pariah in his field. reason.com/2022/03/14/how…
He was disinvited, deplatformed, censured, threatened, & kicked off editorial boards & out of a cafe in Rochester. There were protests against him on campus. Someone wrote graffiti outside his door & posted flyers on campus calling him a sexual predator. reason.com/2022/03/14/how…
But instead of losing credibility when the facts came out, his accusers became icons of #MeToo and were featured as two of Time Magazine’s People of the Year along with other “silence breakers” who’d been harassed and abused.
The campaign against Jaeger eventually lead to 8 resignations, including the president of UR, and it nearly broke up the department. Literally—there was talk of disbanding and forming a new one. reason.com/2022/03/14/how…
But even after these investigations found Jaeger hadn’t violated university policy and his accusers had repeatedly misrepresented what happened and broke confidentiality, they still won: The university settled with them for $9.4 million. reason.com/2022/03/14/how…
There’s a lot more to this story. You can read about it at @reason or listen to the latest Blocked and Reported for more. blockedandreported.org/p/episode-106-…
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