The UB suspends a professor from employment and salary for 18 months for abuse of power for sexual purposes.
The court had closed the door to a criminal offense, but the university has received up to eight complaints, two of which have expired.
BarcelonaThe University of Barcelona (UB) has sanctioned a professor (DV) with 18 months of suspension from employment and pay for taking advantage of his position within the institution to have sexual relations with students. During the investigation into the case, which began in September 2023, eight complaints were filed, two of which were past the statute of limitations. The UB has sanctioned the professor for a very serious offense: using his civil servant status to obtain an undue benefit. This measure can still be appealed and conflicts with the favorable court rulings the professor had.
This is a complex case because the judicial process has cleared the professor of any crime. However, the academic institution has proven this prevalence through an investigation that lasted 10 months—she was detained while the criminal case was open—and which included 15 witnesses (10 provided by the defense) and up to eight complaints for similar events (seven and the initial one). The literature department professor was provisionally suspended when the case broke and has already served 18 months of suspension from work. However, the current status of his salary suspension remains to be determined, as he has continued to be paid. The professor, who now has one month to file an appeal for reconsideration with the UB rector and up to two months to take the case to court, will file both appeals. Until all avenues are exhausted, the ruling is not final, and he would not be able to return to his job.
Initially, the investigator's proposed resolution was a 30-month suspension without employment or pay, but the professor's allegations this April reduced the final sanction to 18 months. In February 2025, the case took on a new dimension when the first complainant made it public through a letter on social media. Faced with this new situation, the teacher also issued a statement highlighting the court decisions that dismissed the complaint, while also claiming to have received "threats and insults." The teacher also denies having had sexual relations with the student.
Three violations
The case stems from a complaint from a student in September 2023. Initially, the UB opened a file analyzing three possible infractions: prevalence, which was ultimately confirmed, and a very serious infraction for sexual harassment and a serious infraction for abuse of authority. These last two were left out of the resolution signed by the UB rector last week. Since the girl also took the case to court, the academic institution could not assess these two alleged infractions. In fact, both Barcelona's 20th investigating court and the Provincial Court rejected the complaint, thus closing the criminal case.
However, the Provincial Court did not question the girl's account, but rather considered that the sexual relations that took place were not a crime: "In none of the encounters described is there evidence of a lack of consent, nor is there evidence that sexual relations occurred using violence, intimidation, or other means." The text specifies that the fact that "the accused is a professor of the complainant, and the obvious age difference, does not in itself imply any position of superiority." Moreover, the resolution states, she sought him out "on numerous occasions" and it all began with a "mutual flirtation." This flirtation, while he was a professor and also a civil servant, is what the UB's investigation has proven based on documentary evidence and the six complaints that had not yet expired. At the beginning of 2024, after the events, the UB incorporated sexual-affective relationships between faculty, researchers, and students into its code of ethics as "professional malpractice."
In fact, the Barcelona Court of Appeals makes a distinction between what a judge can do and what an institution like the UB can do, and opens the door to an administrative sanction. "It is not the responsibility of the criminal courts to make ethical assessments of non-criminal conduct, without prejudice to the fact that appropriate measures may be adopted in the university administration based on ethical or professional deontology criteria," the text states, emphasizing that the existence of "sexual harassment" situations may be included in the protocols of these centers and do not have "with the protocols of these centers."
