The professor of the University of California, Davis, has been fired after students filed a complaint that he had allegedly made racially insensitive comments to a female student.
According to a statement released by the university, Professor Eric Ziegler’s termination is effective December 10.
The university says it has received no official complaint from the student, but Zieglers alleged that he was subjected to harassment, and that the university has been “deeply offended by his behavior and conduct” since the complaint was filed in May.
In a video posted to Facebook, Ziegels’ assistant, Samantha Linton, asked him to “please stop harassing me,” adding that she was afraid of retaliation.
In the video, Zigels said that his assistant was “fucking with my head,” and said, “It’s not about you, it’s about me.”
Linton responded, “That’s the way I feel, but you’re not going to stop harassing her.”
In a subsequent conversation with the assistant, Zegels said, “‘It’s about you,’ you know?
You’re so angry, you’re so offended, and you’re scared, and I don’t know what to do.””
And I said, ‘It’s OK, I’m going to take it out on you,'” he said.
“And I told him, ‘I don’t care if you get fired, I will take it off your head.'”
The video ended with Ziegles telling Linton that he would be leaving the classroom “in a week or so.”
Ziegler has been the subject of numerous complaints about his behavior, and has also been accused of making offensive remarks to students and other faculty members, including an incident in which he told a male student, “I don