Faculty members at the University of Michigan raised concerns during the hiring process of a noted opera singer in 2015, going so far as to wonder who was going to tell him to keep his hands off male students, according to depositions included in court filings.

The previously unreported depositions, included in a mid-January lawsuit filing in U.S. District Court in Detroit, detail how faculty raised issues as singer David Daniels was being brought to Ann Arbor. Years after his hiring, an internal U-M investigation found in 2018 that Daniels hadsexually harassed more than 20 students, including offering to pay them for sex. Daniels has denied the allegations.He also is facing criminal charges in Texas for alleged behavior that occurred before his stint at U-M.

"The harm Daniels caused was entirely predictable and preventable," attorney Deborah Gordon wrotein federal court pleadings. Gordon is representing former U-M student Andrew Lipian, who alleges he was sexually assaulted by Danielswhile at U-M and is suing the school.

U-M disputes school officials knew about any sexual misconduct concerns about Daniels, and its lawyers say even if they knew about Daniels' reputation, they aren't legally liable for his actions.

Daniels is at least the third case to come to light in recent weeks where U-M administratorsare accused of knowingabout patterns of sexual misconduct and harassment by employees who regularly interacted with students, but kept them on the payroll and even promoted them. Each case involved allegations against someone prominent — Daniels gained fame nationally for his singing, another of the accused headed a university department and a third was a star of academia.

The late Dr. Robert Anderson has been accused of sexually assaulting students during a long career at U-M. In 1980, Anderson was pressed to step down as head of U-M's University Health Service because of complaints he was sexually assaulting male patients. He wasn't out of work long — landing as team doctor for the football program under legendary coaches Bo Schembechler and Lloyd Carr.

Anderson died in 2008. This month, more than 30 people called a hotline in the first two days it was operational to offer information on Anderson. U-M officials and police, as they conduct investigations, believe there could be hundreds of victims, according to a police report.

When a police detective recently told Tom Easthope, a former university administrator who oversaw Anderson's department, that Anderson's tenure in the athletic department was under scrutiny, Easthope became "visibly shaken" because he thought the doctor had been forced out of the university years ago after Easthope confronted Anderson about allegations he was sexually assaulting patients while head of the student health service.

Speaking about Anderson, Easthope told the detective "he was sure that he had left the university," according a police report.

Also recently, U-M Provost Martin Philbert was accused of sexual misconduct and harassing women during his long career at U-M. The university promoted him from faculty member to assistant dean to dean to provost,the top academic officer at the school.

Former U-M Provost Phil Hanlon said the university was aware of complaints early in Philbert's tenure, but has said an independent probe cleared Philbert in the early 2000s. Since January, when U-M suspended Philbert, more than two dozen women have come forward to accuse him of sexual misconduct and harassment, including several who say this happened after the long-ago investigation.

'They could have been stopped'

Last Friday evening near campus, the chatter at Espresso Royale on State Street had some anger mixed in. Over the last month, students have learned of allegations against their provost and a former staff physician. This follows complaints last year involving Daniels, a tenured music professor.

"What makes me upset is they could have been stopped," said sophomore Lizzy Washington, 20, of Grand Rapids, while she waited for some friends. "It's not like no one knew. Seems like from what I've heard, lots of people knew about (both the provost and the doctor) and didn't do anything. How many people had something horrible happen to them and it could have not happened if (university administrators) had actually stopped them."

That was a sentiment shared by Mary Beth Lackey, a 1990 U-M graduate. Lackey, 52, of Denver was in town to meet some friends for dinner after spending most of the week on a business trip to Detroit.

"It seemed like every day there was something new," she said. "I think the university was more worried about protecting itself — from a lawsuit like happened at Michigan State or reputation getting slammed or something like that. I'm not sure who is to blame, but I hope there are real answers coming and it's not like MSU where we still don't know everyone who covered up for that gymnastics doctor," referring to Larry Nassar, the longtime MSU physician who is now serving prison time for sexually assaulting hundreds under the guise of medical examinations.

Mark Danbury, 49, of Farmington has a daughter who is a junior at U-M, and said what should happen next is simple.

"Figure out who knew what and why they didn't act. Fire them if they are still here and then make sure you pay for counseling and help for those people who were hurt," he said. "I just don't understand how this keeps happening over and over. Seems like people are more interested in protecting the university than doing what is right."

There was talk about the splashy hire

There was more than the usual start-of-school buzz around the School of Music Theater and Dance as September 2015 rolled around. U-M was making a splashy hire, bringing in a world-renowned, critically acclaimed countertenor named David Daniels to join its faculty. The expectation was the school's prestige would rise from the hire and prospective students would respond positively to the news.

But all wasn't rose bouquets and champagne toasts. In department meetings and conversations in hallways, faculty were discussing Daniels and alleged sexual misconduct issues that needed to be addressed,according to depositions and interviews with professors by U-M Title IX investigators that are filed in court pleadings.

One professor said, "Someone’s got to tell him to keep his hands off the SMTD students," according to a deposition by a professor in the school, Matthew Thompson, who also said the chair of the department wondered whether he was going to have to tell Daniels how to behave in an academic setting.

According to the same deposition,another professor said, "Someone needs to be sure he is not engaging sexually with young students." There allegedly was a meeting in the school where Daniel's “sexual proclivities" came up.

The dean of the school was at the meeting and said it was " 'going to be fine. He’ll be OK. Don’t worry about it,' " the same deposition states.

Other depositions taken in the case from other professors and staffers and included in court pleadings echo Thompson's concerns about the hiring of Daniels.

More:Former opera star, University of Michigan prof David Daniels charged with rape

More:Opera singer, U-M professor denies sexual assault allegations

More:U-M trying to out former grad student as gay, court filing claims

And then ...

Flash forward three years.

U-M's Title IX office, after investigating complaints about Daniels that had been sent to them, found he asked students to come to his home for sex in exchange for money, "offered to pay students to have sex in front of him at a hotel, sent many students nude photos of himself and videos of himself masturbating, engaged in sexual relationships with multiple students, and continually engaged in sexually inappropriate communications verbally and via text message," according to a copy of the Title IX report filed in court.

U-M began tenure revocation proceedings against Daniels last April, the first step in firing him. U-M spokeswoman Kim Broekhuizen confirmed Friday that Daniels is still on paid administrative leave.

Daniels and his husband, William Walters, are currently facing rapecharges in Houston. They are accused of sexually assaulting an incapacitated fan of Daniels’ after giving him a sleeping pill following a night of drinking in 2010. Daniels and Walters maintain the sexual encounter was consensual. As of Friday, the case was pending.

Lipian said he came to U-M with a dream of becoming a countertenor singer. Daniels is a countertenor with an extensive professional opera background. Lipian took classes with Daniels, and also met with him weekly for private voice lessons.

According to the lawsuit, Daniels, during those sessions, began making suggestive comments to Lipian, who claims in the suit it was well-known to U-M administrators that Daniels routinely made such comments.

Lipian also said he received texts from Daniels asking for videos of himself masturbating and received videos of Daniels masturbating.

Lipian said in the suit he is heterosexual and married.

Then came March 24, 2017, when Daniels invited Lipian to his apartment to watch “RuPaul’s Drag Race” "because he was 'lonely' and wanted to discuss (Lipian's) 'career,' " the suit says.

"Plaintiff was served several drinks of bourbon," the lawsuit alleges. "When he said he was tired and needed sleep for a performance the next day, Daniels handed him what he said was a Tylenol PM but was actually the sleep medication Ambien. Daniels then removed (Lipian’s) clothes, forced himself upon (Lipian) and groped and touched his genitals and face."

The latest filing from Lipian includes more than 1,000 pages of depositions and internal Title IX office reports. Those reports include page after page of texts between Daniels and various students, including sexually explicit ones.

The depositions include the testimony of several professors who say repeatedly under aggressive questioning from Gordon that there were plenty of conversations about Daniels before he was officially hired. For example, Gordon asked Thompson about comments he made to U-M's investigators looking into Daniels.

According to the U-M investigation report, also filed with the federal court, Thompson said Daniels was a "very sexual guy" andwhile he was in the hiring process, but before he had officially started at U-M, "everybody" knew this about him.

Other depositions and witnesses interviewed by U-M back up the knowledge of Daniels' behavior.

During her deposition, former interim dean and chair of the voice department Melody Racine was told by Gordon more than 20 students had said to investigators they were sexually harassed by Daniels.

"Does that surprise you?" Gordon asked, according to a transcript.

"It sickens me, but it doesn't surprise," Racine responded.

Lawyers downplaying liability

Even if concerns about Daniels were well-known around the music school — and U-M's attorneys dispute that — U-M attorneys say that doesn't mean they are legally liable for anything Daniels did after his hire.

In court documents responding to Gordon's filing, U-M attorneys argue that not everybody was concerned about Daniels, and point to a statement given to investigators during the 2018 probe by Stephen West, also a music professor in the voice department.

In that statement, West said then he was not aware Daniels had a reputation for inappropriate behavior and didn't know him well enough to know that about him.

But West later emailed investigators and said he wanted to note that based on reporting done in the media, including the Free Press, and what he had since learned from other personal sources, "regardless of the legal outcomes of the various proceedings against Prof. Daniels, I believe it to be in the best interest of everyone at the University of Michigan, but most especially the students, that Prof. Daniels be terminated from any further affiliation with the university," according to documents included in the U-M court pleadings.

Any rumors or conversation about Daniels weren't enough to make U-M legally liable in Lipian's case for not taking action, the lawyers argue.

"None of the facts he cites establishes that the University had (a) 'actual notice' of the alleged harassment and was (b) deliberately indifferent, thereby subjecting Plaintiff to actionable sexual harassment," they wrote. "Even if some employees were aware of inappropriate behavior, 'actual notice' is not met."

They go on to argue that no one legally required to act knew anything on which they could take action. The two sides are scheduled to be in court on Tuesday and Thursday arguing various motions.

'Dr. Drop Your Drawers'

From last Wednesday through Friday morning, 31 calls came to a hotline at U-M to report information or allegations against former university doctor Anderson, who died in 2008.

That there were allegations against Anderson shouldn't have come as a surprise to U-M. After all, they pushed him out a job once for similar issues.

More:University of Michigan officials told of abuse more than 4 decades ago

More:Michigan staff knew of sexual misconduct allegations against doctor, president says

Easthope, the U-M administrator and Anderson's then-boss, told a detective in November 2018 that he had confronted Anderson long ago about “fooling around in the exam rooms with the boy patients” and told the doctor, “You gotta go." Easthope said the doctor didn't deny the allegation, according to the police report, obtained by the Free Press under the Michigan Freedom of Information Act. At the time, Anderson headed up student health services.

Several people interviewed also told police Anderson was known as "Dr. Drop Your Drawers" because every time people saw him, they got a hernia check, prostate exam and penis check, no matter their medical complaints.

On Friday, the Associated Press reported that a former U-M wrestler who said Anderson molested him during medical exams for routine injuries decades ago says he complained at the time to his wrestling coach and the school's athletic director about the sexual abuse and nothing was done.

Multiple people interviewed by the police said Anderson's behavior was well-known among athletes, including the football team.

One person interviewed — the name is blacked out on a police report — said in 2018 he got a call from a friend asking about the Nassar scandal at MSU. The friend told the person being interviewed it sounded like Anderson all over again.

The university previously said an investigation was launched in July 2018 after a former student-athlete wrote to Athletic Director Warde Manuel to detail abuse during medical exams in the early 1970s.

Complaints against the provost, too

The university also knew about decades-long complaints of sexual misconduct by Provost Philbert. The Free Press previously has reported thatat least three times over the years, complaints about Philbert's behavior were made to administrators at the school, multiple sources have said.

Former U-M Provost Philip Hanlon, now the president of Dartmouth College, in a statement first given to Dartmouth's student paper and then to the Free Press, appeared to confirm a Free Press report that he was at least aware of allegations before Philbert was promoted to deanin 2010.

"When Martin Philbert was appointed dean of Michigan’s School of Public Health, a thorough background check by an external search firm, and a rigorous independent investigation of the allegations did not uncover any evidence of misconduct or anything that undermined his qualifications or fitness to serve," the statement reads.

The university announced his leave Jan. 22 after multiple complaints by women were filed against him with the school's Title IX office.

More:U-M conducted investigation of Martin Philbert in 2010 before promotion to dean

More:High-ranking U-M official has years of misconduct allegations — and school knew

Outside investigators hired by the university to probe the initial complaints are now working back over Philbert's career at U-M, sources said.

Philbert has been at U-M since 1995 and is known as a talented, charming, empathetic researcher and administrator. He also is known for making inappropriate comments, said multiple sources who either work with him or used to work with him.

He is the highest-ranking administrator at U-M to be accused of sexual misconduct. U-M, like other campuses, is in the midst of ongoing controversy and debate over how it handles sexual misconduct allegations. U-M is also the center of a landmark court ruling that changed the way allegations by students are handled across the Midwest.

As he worked in the dean's office in charge of research at the school, Philbert was known for an outgoing personality. He also was kind, empathetic and caring, often spending lots of time listening and talking with those who worked around him, multiple people who knew him then told the Free Press. Philbert was also known to hug — men and women — a lot. Some saw him as narcissistic and manipulative.

He also was known for "overtures" or making sexually charged comments that went over the line, those sources said. Many women just ignored them, let them slide because of their relationship with Philbert or felt if they reported, they would be retaliated against, those sources told the Free Press.

Transparency is crucial

John Manly has represented victims of Nassar at MSU, and University of Southern California gynecologist George Tyndall, among others.

The lawyer sees U-M using the same playbook as those schools and the Ohio State University, where a team doctor, Richard Strauss, sexually assaulted hundreds.

"Michigan is doing what those university are doing — under the guise of an independent investigation, they are gathering information for their defense strategy," Manly said.

More:Law firm: Our investigation of U-M provost isn't meant to be used for defense in suit

U-M officials have denied that and a contract with the firm investigating Philbert explicitly says they won't be involved in any defense of the university.

That doesn't mean the information they gather won't be used, Manly said.

"They should have just stepped up at the beginning and said, 'We're going to tell you everything we know.' When (universities) aren't transparent, they create a permanent class of adversaries. They do real damage to their brand. You're going to see real consequences at Michigan for what's been going on."

Contact David Jesse: 313-222-8851 or djesse@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter: @reporterdavidj