8 women allege they were sexually harassed by suspended Salk researcher

Eight women have told the journal Science that they were sexually harassed by Salk Institute biologist Inder Verma, allegations he denied through his attorney on Tuesday.

Science reported that the alleged harassment occurred from 1976 to 2016 and involved such things as forced kissing, pinched buttocks and the touching of women’s breasts.

Five of the women spoke on the record, including Pam Mellon, a neuroscientist at UC San Diego. Three spoke anonymously.

Science quoted Mellon as saying: “I have been avoiding [Verma] for 30 years.” She told the journal that Verma grabbed her breasts during a party at her home when she was an assistant professor at the Salk Institute in the mid-1980s.

“The quotes and story about my experience are correct,” Mellon told the Union-Tribune by email.

The Science article deepens an uproar that has been going on at the Salk Institute’s La Jolla campus since last summer, when three female professors separately sued the center for alleged gender discrimination.

Victoria Lundblad, Katherine Jones and Beverly Emerson characterized the privately run Salk Institute as an old boys’ club that systematically discriminates against women when it comes to salary, promotions, lab space and access to private grants.

In the Science article, Emerson also alleges that Verma grabbed her and kissed her on the mouth in the Salk library.

Salk officials have denied the allegations about gender discrimination. But the case has not faded.

In late December, Nobel laureate Elizabeth Blackburn unexpectedly announced she was planning to retire as the president of the institute. She has since been replaced by Fred “Rusty” Gage, one of Salk’s most renowned scientists.

A few days after Blackburn’s announcement, Verma, 70, revealed that he had been removed as editor of one of the world’s leading science journals after being implicated in the gender discrimination lawsuits.

Then in late April, the institute announced that it had placed Verma on leave over unspecified allegations. Salk did not publicly indicate that it was investigating a sexual matter.

A short time later, Verma released an email to the Union-Tribune that said: “I have never used my position at the Salk Institute to take advantage of others. I have also never engaged in any sort of intimate relationship with anyone affiliated with the Salk Institute.

“I have never inappropriately touched, nor have I made any sexually charged comments, to anyone affiliated with the Salk Institute. I have never allowed any offensive or sexually charged conversations, jokes, material, etc. to occur at the Salk Institute,” he said.

In a statement Tuesday, the institute said that it “has not condoned — and will not condone — workplace behavior found to be inappropriate, regardless of the stature or influence of the person who engaged in such conduct.”

Regarding Verma, the institute said, a formal investigation was being led by an independent outside party. “There is no timetable on the investigation,” the statement said. “The institute will not comment on the investigation or speculate on what will happen following its conclusion.”

gary.robbins@sduniontribune.com

Robbins writes for the San Diego Union-Tribune.