Anti-vaping Crusader Sued for Sexual Harassment

Stanton Glantz has been sued for sexual harassment by a former postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, San Francisco, Buzzfeed reports.

In a year that has seen high profile stars such as Kevin Spacey and Harvey Weinstein accused of serious sexual crimes, Glantz – an outspoken critic of vaping – has been accused of forcing his former subordinate to hug her, repeatedly staring at her body, and displaying “misogynistic and racially insensitive behaviour”.

Glantz's accuser, Eunice Neely, claims that she was forced to leave UCSF due to his actions and the inability or unwillingness of the University to address them. She left her job in 2017.

In late 2016, Neely claims that Glantz described an orgy scene from a film while the pair were alone in a dimly lit room. The complainant had never seen the film in question, but Glantz assumed she had watched it because all of the main characters were black.

She also claims that Glantz had told students that he could get away with anything. Having tenure meant “you can rape the Vice Chancellor’s daughter and still have a job”, Glantz is alleged to have said.

The lawsuit comes hot on the heels of repeated criticisms Glantz has faced for the quality of his work in tobacco control. His analysis of vaping, published in 2016, was widely panned by experts for misrepresenting evidence.

Professor Robert West, of University College London, called the publication of the study “a major failure of the peer review system”, while Prof. Peter Hajek, of Queen Mary College, called it “grossly misleading” and Anne McNeil, who co-wrote the UK Government’s review of vaping, called it “not scientific”.

Glantz did not respond to a request for comment from Buzzfeed, who broke the story.