Crosspost: UF files motion to dismiss complaint of former astronomy Ph.D. student in ongoing lawsuit

Update: In April 2022, the university’s internal investigation found that the allegations were unsubstantiated and no sanctions were issued against the faculty member. The allegations on Twitter have since been deleted.

Written By: Grace Blair for WUFT News

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The University of Florida filed a dismissal on Thursday afternoon to a complaint made by former astronomy doctorate student Sankalp Gilda in an ongoing lawsuit regarding Gilda’s reported mistreatment by his former program supervisor.

The legal complaint was filed by Gilda on Sept. 6 based on “unpaid overtime wages,” according to the complaint obtained through public records. UF filed a motion to dismiss the complaint after citing failure to state a claim, according to the dismissal.

Gilda, who worked under assistant professor Zachary Slepian for three years in the astronomy program, discussed some of his experiences in a tweet made on Sept. 15. In his post, which consisted of 24 tweets, Gilda described multiple instances of Slepian engaging in during his time as Gilda’s adviser, as well as the circumstances that led Gilda to sue UF for improper overtime compensation.

Gilda also announced through Twitter that he filed charges against the UF astronomy and astrophysics department on the basis of “racism, harassment, and retaliation.” Gilda filed a case through the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) about Slepian’s behavior. The report consisted of Gilda’s experiences as a doctoral candidate from August 2015 to August 2021 and the various forms of “harassment and discrimination” that he faced during that time based on “national origin, race, and disabilities, unpaid wages, ADA violations, harassment, promissory estoppel, and intentional infliction of emotional damage.”

<edited, 7/12/2023> Read more about the case here:

https://www.wuft.org/news/2021/10/18/uf-files-motion-to-dismiss-complaint-of-former-astronomy-ph-d-student-in-ongoing-lawsuit/