Former University of Iowa orchestra conductor alleges sexual harassment and discrimination

A former University of Iowa orchestra conductor is suing the school, alleging sexual harassment and discrimination.

Mélisse Brunet’s lawsuit, filed in Polk County District Court, alleges gender-based discrimination, sexual harassment, retaliation and unequal pay violations of the Iowa Civil Rights Act.

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Brunet was an orchestra conductor and an assistant professor at the UI’s School of Music until she resigned in May 2023. Before coming to the UI in August 2021 as the school’s first female director of orchestral activities, Brunet was the music director of the Northeastern Pennsylvania Philharmonic.

The defendants in the case, which include the university, Associate Director of Undergraduate Studies Alan Huckleberry and College of Music Director Tammie Walker, have yet to file a response to the lawsuit.

In her suit, Brunet claims Huckleberry repeatedly made sexual overtures while serving as her officially designated mentor.

During their weekly meetings, Huckleberry would “talk about his sex life, his multiple sexual partners, threesomes, and his sex life with his wife,” the lawsuit asserts. On multiple occasions, Huckleberry allegedly “invited Dr. Brunet to his home, including inviting her to stay the weekend with him and his wife.”

Huckleberry, the lawsuit claims, “made numerous statements that made it clear that he was trying to groom Dr. Brunet to have sex with him — or him and his wife — in exchange for his support of Dr. Brunet in the music department.”

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In November 2021, after Brunet requested a new mentor, Huckleberry allegedly began “shaming and berating” her, telling her would “ruin” her career at the university. The suit alleges Huckleberry told Brunet he could destroy her, adding, “I have a lot of power.”

The two subsequently had regular lunches at Huckleberry’s insistence, at which Huckleberry allegedly continued to sexually harass Brunet by discussing his own sexual endeavors. The lawsuit claims that in a February 2022 text exchange, Brunet shared with Huckleberry some photos from a documentary in which she was featured. Huckleberry allegedly replied by asking, “Where are the shower and bed pics?”

In October 2022, Huckleberry allegedly “pulled his support for Dr. Brunet within the department,” undermining her efforts to receive tenure, and sewing discord between Brunet and her supervisor, Walker, the college’s director.

Lawsuit claims unequal pay

Brunet allegedly complained about the conduct to the university’s ombudsman, the dean of liberal arts and sciences, human resources, the Title IX office and the school’s Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. “Nothing was done to address Dr. Brunet’s concerns,” the lawsuit claims.

The lawsuit also alleges Brunet was underpaid when compared with her male counterparts in the music department, many of whom served in lesser roles. The male director who held the position prior to Brunet was allegedly paid at least $11,000 more when he started than Brunet was when she started, and he was offered tenure, which Brunet was not.

While at the university, Brunet taught courses in the school of music and conducted or supervised four separate ensembles and was allegedly provided with three teaching assistants — fewer than her male counterparts.

Walker allegedly ostracized Brunet and failed to support her by attending her concerts, but did attend “other male-conducted concerts, and would often send her congratulations to the director via email blast to the whole department — something that she never did for Dr. Brunet,” the lawsuit claims.

In May 2023, Brunet resigned, citing issues of sexual harassment and discrimination. At that point, her lawsuit alleges, her “career at University of Iowa came to a screeching halt — along with the magical performances” of the orchestras she led.

This article first appeared in the Iowa Capital Dispatch.