‘Lay on the table like a sl**’: Student sues professor who ‘groped her in front of the class’ after asking her to take part in a demonstration
- Jaclyn Vitale was studying massage therapy at the New York College of Health Professions’ Syosset campus in 2016 when she says she was assaulted
- Vitale claims professor Mark Gresser told her to ‘lay on the table like a sl**’
- He then groped her anus and genitals, according to a lawsuit filed Tuesday
- Vitale says she had agreed to take part in a demonstration which was ‘common’
- Her classmates then ‘palpated the muscle’ before she was allegedly assaulted
- ‘Wow, he got a little handsie’, a fellow student is said to have remarked to Vitale
A student is suing her former professor claiming he groped her in front of her classmates after asking her to take part in a demonstration.
Jaclyn Vitale was studying massage therapy at the New York College of Health Professions’ Syosset campus in 2016 when she says she was assaulted by professor Mark Gresser.
She claims Gresser told her lay on the table like a s***’ in his myology class. He then groped her, Vitale alleges.
In a lawsuit filed in Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday, Vitale says she had agreed to take part in a demonstration about the ‘hip-hiking’ muscle, found in the lower-back.
Her classmates then ‘palpated the muscle in question’ which was ‘common’ practice in the course, The New York Post reports.
But it was during this role play that Gresser is said to have groped her anus and genitals.
Jaclyn Vitale was studying massage therapy at the New York College of Health Professions’ Syosset campus, pictured, when she says she was assaulted by professor Mark Gresser
In a lawsuit filed in Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday Vitale says she had agreed to take part in a demonstration about the ‘hip-hiking’ muscle, found in the lower-back, pictured
‘Wow, he got a little handsie’, a fellow student is said to have remarked to Vitale of Gresser.
Vitale, who now lives in Florida and is seeking unspecified damages, says her grades suffered as a result of the alleged incident.
She did not immediately report the incident ‘because she was scared of what may result by reporting’, the lawsuit says.
When she told dean Serge Nerli, Vitale says he ‘apologized to plaintiff for what had happened to her and promised to look into the matter’.
But the lawsuit says the ‘stalking’ continued and resulted in Vitale leaving the course in February 2018 to save herself from ‘continued torment and harassment’.
Gresser allegedly made ‘off-hand remarks and inappropriate comments’.
The college said it has not seen a copy of the suit and did not comment.
Gresser has not responded to the claims.