A former chair of the University of Cincinnati's journalism department is accusing the school of blowing up his career after a dust-up over a diversity hiring rule. In a new federal lawsuit, Dr. Brian R. Calfano says UC administrators coached students to lodge false sexual harassment complaints and used the fallout to push him out of his leadership post, leaving him unemployed, hospitalized, and fighting to clear his name.
Filed Monday in federal court, the complaint argues the university and several named administrators destroyed his professional reputation and seeks money damages along with court orders to clean up his personnel file.
What the complaint says
In a complaint filed in U.S. District Court and posted online, Calfano, who says he served as head of UC's journalism department until March 2024, traces the conflict back to a hiring dispute. He alleges that an associate dean blocked his effort to appoint Meghan Goth under an unannounced DEI hiring process and then retaliated when he challenged that decision, according to the federal complaint.
The filing names the university and multiple administrators and describes two internal investigations that Calfano says were used as pretexts to remove him from his role as department head. The suit asks the court to expunge investigative records from his personnel file, block further disclosure of those materials, and award both compensatory and punitive damages.
Allegations reported by local press
According to the Cincinnati Enquirer, the lawsuit alleges university officials went as far as coaching students to falsely claim that Calfano sexually harassed them. The Enquirer reports that UC stripped him of his department head title in March 2024, and that he later resigned from the university in 2025 as the controversy intensified.
Investigation, health toll and aftermath
The court filing says UC's Title IX office opened an investigation on its own initiative, not in response to individual complaints. An outside hearing attorney later described some of the alleged conduct as "not sexual in nature," according to the complaint.
The suit further claims the university released an unresolved Title IX file to a reporter, a disclosure Calfano says cost him a subsequent broadcast job and helped trigger serious health problems that led to hospitalization and medical leave. Those alleged harms are central to what he is asking the court to remedy.
DEI context on campus
The lawsuit lands in the middle of a broader political and legal storm over how Ohio's public universities handle diversity, equity and inclusion. That pressure intensified after the state's Advance Ohio Higher Education Act (SB1) took effect in 2025.
Reporting from CityBeat details how UC shut down or repurposed central inclusion centers last year as it moved to comply with the law. Campus leaders and faculty members say those changes have sharpened tensions over who gets hired and who calls the shots in university governance.
Legal questions
As described in the Enquirer's coverage, Calfano's lawsuit leans on several legal theories at once. It raises First Amendment, Title IX and 42 U.S.C. Section 1983 claims and alleges retaliation, due process violations and unlawful disclosure of investigative materials. The suit names individual administrators, seeks declaratory relief and asks for money damages to repair what Calfano says is lasting damage to his record and reputation.
What to watch next
The case now moves onto the federal docket, where UC and the other defendants can respond with motions to dismiss or a formal answer, and the court will set a schedule for next steps. It is a lot of legal firepower for a dispute that started with a single hiring decision, and it arrives as scrutiny of Ohio campuses is already running hot.
The lawsuit comes amid renewed debate over how universities manage DEI programs and internal investigations, a fight intensified by undercover DEI videos and watchdog reporting that have put UC under the microscope, according to Hoodline and other local outlets.
The complaint remains publicly available online and is pending in U.S. District Court. This story will be updated if the university files a formal response or issues a public statement.
