A tenured astrophysics professor at the California Institute of Technology is out on nine months unpaid leave after a university investigation revealed he fired a student because he fell in love with her.
Graduate students Io Kleiser and Sarah Gossan have filed a harassment complaint against 38-year-old Christian Ott for inappropriate conduct, BuzzFeed reports. While having coffee off campus, Ott allegedly told Klaiser he could not longer work with her and that she would have to look for another advisor. Five days later, the confused student received an online message that read, "Of all my students I cared most about you and I failed in the worst way. My problem is that I don’t want to be in a power position, but I factually am."
Ott then starting hitting up Gossan to complain about his relationship woes. He would even message her late at night or while drunk to confess that he was not over Kleiser. "Do you think I am a shady person because I let myself be emotionally involved with my student?" he once asked. "I think I may actually be prone to this sort of thing."
During his time away, Ott will not be allowed to visit campus or speak with all but one grad student. His communication with most postdoctoral fellows will be closely followed and, upon his return, he must participate in "rehabilitative" training. In other words, he gets to keep his job.
Head here for the rest of the sordid details.
