She says that he routinely pressured her to have sex with him and boasted that he controlled her job at the University of Colorado.
He says they were great friends and colleagues but nothing more.
Those are the opposing versions of events that likely will emerge in a federal trial beginning Monday that pits the word of a former research assistant against her boss, a renowned professor, who since has been fired.
The woman, who asked that her name not be used because of the nature of the allegations, is suing the university for sexual harassment. The Denver Post does not publish the names of those who say they are sex assault victims unless they waive anonymity.
The woman contends university officials had prior complaints about Igor Gamow, now 70, dating from 1992, that involved allegations of sexual improprieties.
The school, she says, did not properly investigate them. She contends she tried to resist his advances, but couldn’t fend him off.
“She really needed her job and put up with it for a long time,” said George Johnson, her lawyer.
At one point, Gamow is said to have bragged that he had at least 10 ongoing romantic relationships with students, according to pleadings in the case filed in 2002.
Gamow is a microbiologist and inventor. Among his more well-known creations is the Gamow Bag, an inflatable pressure bag that is primarily used to treat altitude sickness. He also is the son of the late George Gamow, an acclaimed theoretical physicist whose work advanced the big-bang theory.
Two years ago, CU fired Igor Gamow for “moral turpitude.” He had worked for the university since 1968.
Gamow, who has sued the university over his firing, said in a telephone interview that he could not speak in detail about his dismissal because he is still litigating the matter.
But he said he was not fired for sexual harassment. And he also said he did not have any type of sexual relationship with his former assistant.
Gamow said the woman wanted him to hire her boyfriend and she got angry.
“That was probably the moment. All friendly communication was finished,” Gamow said.
“She was my colleague and business partner and very good friend for years and years,” he said. “It’s almost so ugly that it’s not believable.”
David Temple, the university’s lawyer, said the allegations that led to Gamow’s firing included sexual harassment.
But the accusations made by the woman who has sued the university are “totally unrelated” to those that led to Gamow’s firing.
“He was terminated for conduct involving other persons and certainly some of that can be characterized as sexual harassment,” Temple said.
The university has denied all wrongdoing and maintains it had an effective sexual harassment policy that the woman failed to immediately make use of.
But when she did, the university contends, the school “took prompt and effective corrective action.”
The woman, who also is a veterinarian and is now 43, began working for Gamow in 1993. The harassment began soon after, according to the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Denver.
It started with him fondling her and progressed to repeated unwanted sexual intercourse between 1995 and 1997, the lawsuit said.
She contends she fought him off as best she could, but submitted to it because he made clear that she otherwise would lose her job.
In 2000, she filed a complaint with the university’s office of sexual harassment. Shortly thereafter, she says, she lost her job at the university. Eventually, she found a position in another department where she remains employed.
Staff writer Alicia Caldwell can be reached at 303-820-1930 or at acaldwell@denverpost.com.
