Whitney "Theda" Orlando, a former bondage model and Portland State University student, filed a $1million lawsuit against the school and former professor Marcia Klotz over harassment allegations.
In the lawsuit, Orlando claimed she was compelled to quit school last spring after she was pressurized to give the professor explicit photos of her past. The former student is seeking monetary damages for loss of education and stress that left her sick and hospitalized, NY Daily News reports.
Marcia Klotz, former assistant professor of English, reportedly forced Orlando to discuss about the sexual abuse she suffered at the age of 13.
At one instance, Klotz also asked Orlando to select a topic for a paper related to sexual abuse of children and told her to cite her past. During the research phase of the paper, Orlando for the first time looked into the details of the trial court's case file against her former middle school teacher. The research work caused physical stress and at one point, she was hospitalized for irregular heartbeat.
The professor also asked for copies of nude or sexually explicit photos of Orlando after learning of her bondage modeling career, according to the suit, Huffington Post reports. Admiring her poses, Klotz allegedly expressed enthusiasm about attending her future modeling sessions.
The lawsuit highlights that the professor's obsession with her past modeling and the sexual abuse caused stress, anxiety and heart problems that compelled her to drop out of school without completing her degree.
In a court filing, the university admitted that about 200 emails - discussions on sexual topics, seminar, work as a bondage pornography model and course material - were exchanged between the plaintiff and the defendant from 2009 to 2012. However, Orlando never filed a complaint with the university in connection to the harassment prior to the suit.
"Interactions with [Orlando] during this period were designed and intended to encourage [Orlando] to share sexually oriented material and sensitive details of [Orlando's] sexual life with Klotz," Orlando's suit states. "Klotz's interest and participation in [Orlando's] sexual life during this time blurred professional and personal boundaries between herself and [Orlando]."
Orlando is now attending Marylhurst University, while Klotz has joined University of Arizona.
