NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A professor who was fired from Fordham University over accusations that he masturbated during a Zoom lecture is suing the university, arguing his erectile disfunction makes the claim “virtually impossible.”
Howard Robinson, the 68-year-old professor from the university’s Social Work department, said he also suffered from an enlarged prostate and actually had to urinate during the Sept. 10 lecture when the student thought he was pleasuring himself.
“[Robinson] suffers from an enlarged prostate that results in a powerful, uncomfortable urge to urinate due to the pressure placed on the bladder by the enlarged prostate,” Robinson wrote in a petition filed in Bronx Superior Court.
“Ironically, given the baseless charges against him, [Robinson] also suffers from both erectile dysfunction and low testosterone levels, which make it virtually impossible for him to get an erection or to masturbate, as was plainly known to Fordham throughout the process,” The petition continued.
The graduate student who filmed the incident, Andrea Morin, is also suing Fordham over alleged retaliation she faced for filing the complaint with the university.
At the time of the incident, Robinson had prompted students to enter seperate “breakout” rooms on Zoom to discuss course material. But Morin, who was feeling ill that day, was only watching class sporadically and did not click on a Zoom prompt to enter one of the rooms, according to his lawsuit.
While the students were in their rooms, Robinson was typing up an email to the class when he was struck with “a strong urge to urinate,” according to his petition.
“[Robinson] did not want to get up to urinate prior to sending the PowerPoint out to his students,” according to his petition. “As a result, Petitioner was shaking his legs, grimacing, and experiencing labored breathing while preparing the email.”
Robinson’s hands were not visible, but he claims there were typing sounds in the clip that prove he was actually writing up an email.
Morin recorded the incident on her phone, and claimed he saw Robinson “from above his waist, and observed him for a period of 1.5 minutes, during which time he was shaking, breathing hard, and saying…‘oh f--k yeah.’”
Robinson, who was tenured, is suing to get reinstated at the university and arguing that Fordham conducted a “flawed investigation” that denied him the right to a hearing.