Celeste Kidd

In 2016, Kidd reported sexual harassment by T. Florian Jaeger, then (and today) a tenured professor at the University of Rochester. The university closed the investigation before it reviewed relevant evidence or spoke to witnesses Kidd named who could corroborate her claims.[12][13] Kidd then became one of eight then current and former faculty members at the University of Rochester to file a complaint with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission that included statements and evidence from 11 women who experienced the tenured professor's sexual harassment at the University of Rochester.[14][15] In response, the university paid $4.5 million for an outside investigation led by Mary Jo White which confirmed all substantial allegations about the tenured professor, but suggested that the allegations did not meet the threshold for illegal sexual harassment or retaliation.[16][17][18][19][20][21] In 2020, a federal court disagreed with the conclusions of the Mary Jo White Report and upheld 16 of the 17 claims alleged by the plaintiffs.[22] The university then settled with Kidd and the other plaintiffs for $9.4 million and issued a statement thanking the plaintiffs for bringing their concerns forward.[22][23]

Kidd left the University of Rochester in 2018.[24] She has since become a campaigner to end sexual harassment in academia.[25][26][27] Kidd was made a leader in the Me Too movement in academia, and one of several advocates selected as Time Person of the Year.[28] She has criticized how universities are expected to "investigate themselves" when it comes to complaints about sexual harassment.[25] She believes that public pressure and increased transparency will help to transform academia.[25]