Sexual 'Plaything' Elizabeth Williams Sues Binghamton University

Elizabeth Williams, a former fundraiser for the Binghamton University athletic department, has launched a sexual harassment lawsuit against Jason Siegel and Chris Lewis, two senior athletic department officials, saying she was used as a "sexual plaything" to solicit donations.  The lawsuit, which is being handled by one of the lawyers who won another sexual harassment in athletics lawsuit against New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas, also names the university and two officials with the alumni association as defendants.

The details of the alleged sexual harassment have been well documented by both Elizabeth Williams and, ironically, Binghamton University.  Williams filed numerous complaints with Binghamton University against Jason Siegel and Chris Lewis and in each investigation the athletic department officials were exonerated.  In all her previous complaints Elizabeth Williams was the one subjected to penalties, most commonly suspension without pay.

Elizabeth Williams and her attorney claims that Binghamton University became complicit in the sexual harassment by Jason Siegel and Chris Lewis when it refused to take disciplinary actions against the pair and instead sought to punish Williams for complaining.  The allegations against Jason Siegel and Chris Lewis state the pair openly and repeatedly asked Elizabeth Williams to use her sexuality to get money for the school.

The final breaking point for Elizabeth Williams came when an alumni at one of the events solicited sex from her in exchange for a donation.  The unidentified alumnus is said to have started putting $100 bills on a table before Elizabeth Williams asking her to tell him when there was enough before her to make her sleep with him.  When she turned him down, the alumnus pushed further asking her what it would take for her to have sex with him AND his wife.

This is but one example of the kind of harassment Elizabeth Williams claims to have been subjected to in her job as a fundraiser for Binghamton University.  It is Williams' contention that Jason Siegel and Chris Lewis did nothing to stop this sort of harassment when it occurred, and that they in fact encouraged it through direct and indirect means.

The amount of damages being sought by Elizabeth Williams from Jason Siegel, Chris Lewis and Binghamton University are undetermined at this point but in the case against New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas the jury awarded $11.6 million in punitive damages and compensation to be paid by the club and Madison Square Gardens.  In that case the sexism of Isiah Thomas was exposed by his blatant hostility and crude comments directed toward the complainant, Anucha Browne Sanders.