Former USC student sues, alleges professor exploited her PTSD to sexually harass her

Mar. 24—Another woman has sued the University of South Carolina for allegedly failing to respond to a complaint of sexual harassment.

Mary Elizabeth Johns, a former USC student, filed a lawsuit Monday against the university, her former history professor David Snyder and former USC President Harris Pastides, saying Snyder groomed and subjected her to sexual advances.

The suit claims Snyder exploited Johns' post-tramautic stress disorder that she contracted after caring for family members who were suffering from cancer.

"Snyder coaxed Johns to his house under the guise of being a mentor to talk about her grief," the lawsuit said. "After multiple visits to Snyder's house — under the guise of mentor — Snyder tried to touch and kiss (Johns)."

After several more sexual advances, Johns capitulated and allowed Snyder to perform oral sex on her, despite Snyder being married at the time, according to the suit.

In response to the lawsuit, USC removed Snyder from "all on-campus activities and responsibilities, including teaching and service as the Faculty Principal of Maxcy College," USC spokesman Jeff Stensland said in a statement.

"He has also been instructed to have no contact with students or return to campus without permission from his supervisor," Stensland said. "These actions will remain in effect pending review of the allegations contained in the lawsuit. Professor Snyder will be assigned other duties in the interim."

Johns, who is being represented by S. Randall Hood of McGowan, Hood & Felder LLC, claims to have 184 "email strings," some of which detail inappropriate comments.

One of the emails from the professor allegedly said, "if a little fantasy, a little rile [sic] playing, or a string of orgasms would help, at least take your mind of things, I'd be delighted," according to the lawsuit.

The alleged harassment took place between 2018 and 2020, according to the lawsuit. Johns reported Snyder to a counselor associated with USC, but the counselor did not tell Johns about USC's Title IX policy nor that Johns could file a complaint against Snyder, according to the lawsuit.

Title IX is the 1972 federal law that bans discrimination based on sex in education.

Johns brought forth her allegations because she worried that by staying silent, it could enable Snyder to treat other students similarly, Hood told The State.

"There has to be change," Hood said. "Hopefully USC will follow up on the allegations on a multitude of professors."

Johns' lawsuit follows an investigation by The State newspaper into allegations of sexual harassment at USC as well as several other lawsuits that accuse USC of mishandling sexual harassment complaints.

The allegations have come from faculty, staff and students in multiple departments including information technology, the theatre department, the painting department and now the history department.

Following The State's investigation, which was published earlier this month, USC President Robert Caslen promised sweeping changes to how the university handles allegations of sexual harassment, including establishing an independent Title IX coordinator and creating an office to respond to sexual misconduct allegations, The State previously reported.

"It's very clear we must do better,' Caslen said during a Wednesday town hall. "We must better provide support for survivors."

Snyder's lawsuit was first reported by FITSNews.

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