Rutgers official accused of raping, harassing employee for 10 years

PISCATAWAY – A former Rutgers University professor and managing director of one of the university's most important research centers is being accused of sexually harassing and raping an employee over the course of a decade.

The accusations against Douglas Fugman, who was terminated last year following a university investigation, were revealed in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed earlier this year in Superior Court by an employee of the Rutgers University Cell and DNA Repository (RUCDR).

Fugman has denied any wrongdoing. The Dunellen resident also has not been charged with a crime and his accuser never reported the alleged assaults to police.

The employee — who is not being named because MyCentralJersey.com and the Home News Tribune do not identify victims of sexual assault — is seeking an unspecified amount for damages under provisions against a hostile work environment and sexual quid pro quo under the state's Law Against Discrimination.

The lawsuit names Fugman and the university as defendants.

The employee said the harassment began shortly after she was promoted to lab supervisor in 2002.

Source: N.J. Division on Civil Rights



"Dr. Fugman began a course of sexual harassment and assault which continued for approximately 10 years," the lawsuit says, claiming she was denied promotions and requests to change her shift.

The alleged harassment included "looks," sexual comments, grabbing, "forcibly kissing" and "physical attacks."

After she was transferred to the night shift that year, Fugman "then began coming at plaintiff during the nighttime in an extremely aggressive manner," the lawsuit says.

The "sexual assaults became increasingly more severe in nature" with Fugman forcing the woman to perform oral sex on him and sexual intercourse in his office, the lawsuit claims.

"Over the course of time, these assaults escalated in frequency to the point where they were occurring on a regular basis," and he even showed up at her home demanding to be let in, the lawsuit says.

The woman says the assaults subsided after she got married in 2005 and she threatened to tell her husband.

The lawsuit says Office of Employment Equity investigated the complaint and issued a report in February 2014 that determined that such a relationship had occurred and that same was not welcome to plaintiff due to the "imbalance of power within the workplace."

The woman's attorney, Gregory Noble of O'Connor, Parsons, Lane & Noble in Westfield, declined to provide MyCentralJersey.com with a copy of the university's report. The university also denied a reporter access to the report citing exemptions in the state's Open Public Records Act for documents regarding sexual harassment complaints or employee grievances.

Fugman could not be reached for comment, and his attorney, Steven Backfish, of Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper in Westfield, referred all questions to a Rutgers spokesman, who said the university does not comment on pending litigation.

In court papers, Fugman denies any assault or sexual harassment and says all contact between him and the woman "was consensual."

Fugman said he was only one of the woman's many supervisors and denies that he "unilaterally controlled plaintiff's ability to transfer or receive a promotion."

Fugman's response acknowledges the university's report but says only that it "speaks for itself."

University payroll records indicate Fugman, who was earning $132,600, was terminated Sept. 30, 2014. His accuser remains on the payroll.

The RUCDR describes itself as the world's largest university-based biorepository and assists research into the genetic causes of diseases.

Staff Writer Sergio Bichao: 908-243-6615; sbichao@mycentraljersey.com