The prominent female New York University professor being sued by a former male student who has accused her of sexual harassment said that her relationship with him was not sexual and that the affectionate emails they exchanged were just 'gay-coded' correspondence.

Professor Avita Ronell, 66, a world-renowned professor of German and comparative literature, released a statement on Friday in response to a lawsuit filed against her this week by former student and advisee, Nimrod Reitman, 34.

In the lawsuit, Reitman said he was subjected to unwanted kissing and groping, and he said he received many messages that made him uncomfortable.

Professor Avita Ronell, 66, is being sued by former student, Nimrod Reitman, 34, who claims she sexually harassed him and has been sabotaging his efforts to get a teaching position

In a Friday statement, Reitman denied having any sexual contact with Ronell and said that their affectionate email exchanges were 'gay-coded.' Ronell is gay and Reitman is a lesbian

Ronell denied having any sexual contact with her former student and said their emails contained 'exaggerated expressions of tenderness' because they are both gay, not because she was sexually harassing him.

She also said her messages were reciprocated. In her statement, she included several purported excerpts of their emails, in which she alleges Reitman referred to her as 'beloved and special one,' ''Baby' and 'Sweet Beloved.'

Ronell said their emails were usually related to their working relationship, though they often contained 'literary allusions' and 'poetic runs.'

Reitman, who received a doctorate from NYU in 2015, said the professor created 'a fictitious romantic relationship' and sabotaged his efforts to get a teaching position.

He also is suing the university, alleging administrators failed to take action after he told a vice provost about the misconduct while still a student. He is seeking unspecified damages.

Reitman also stated that Ronell reciprocated her effusive language at the time. She also said that the lawsuit is about Reitman's 'inability to find a job.'

The university opened an investigation last summer shortly after Reitman, who is married to a man, made a formal complaint.

NYU's Title IX office concluded that Reitman was sexually harassed and suspended the professor for a year and stipulated that any future meetings with students be supervised. It cleared her of allegations that her actions amounted to sexual assault.

It said it did not believe that filing a lawsuit against it 'would be warranted or just.'

In the lawsuit, Reitman accuses the professor of demanding he address her in 'over-the-top, effusive language, including that he constantly express his love for her, and his failure to do so would result in Ronell angrily reprimanding him and refusing to work with him.'

Ronell said she uses the same type of flowery language in her emails with many others. She said that Reitman reciprocated this language to her while simultaneously telling others she was a 'witch,' ''evil' and a 'monster.' Ronell said the lawsuit is really about 'the inability of Reitman to find a job,' and not sexual.

Ronell has had a successful career as an author, chair of Philosophy at the European Graduate School and was recently given the award of Chevalier of Arts and Letters by the French government. Her students have gone on to teach at leading research institutions in the US, France and Germany.

Earlier in August, Ronell told the New York Times that, 'Our communications - which Reitman now claims constituted sexual harassment - were between two adults, a gay man and a queer woman, who share an Israeli heritage, as well as a penchant for florid and campy communications arising from our common academic backgrounds and sensibilities.'