Two more staff members tied to a McMaster probe in to complaints around the university’s sexual violence policy are under investigation, according to the school.
In a statement on Wednesday, McMaster responded to two more accusations connected with an ongoing systemic review of the department of psychology, neuroscience and behaviour (PNB).
“A former staff member of the department, who works in another area of the university, has been put on leave after a complaint of an alleged past sexual assault,” the school said in a release on Sept. 30.
“The employee is now on an administrative leave of absence and is no longer allowed on campus.”
In a separate case, another staff member has been sanctioned from the department under the sexual violence policy.
The complaints are in addition to five others the university has been dealing with since the start of an investigation into 46-year-old Scott Watter, an associate professor in the PNB department, who was charged by Hamilton police for sexual assault and sexual assault causing bodily harm in mid-June.
The investigation is being led by Toronto HR law-firm Rubin Thomlinson LLP, according to the university’s president David Farrar.
In July, Farrar said two more faculty members were booted off-campus as an extension of the Watter’s investigation. As of Wednesday, seven faculty members have either been suspended or barred from the PNB department.
“The scope of the original investigation is being expanded to include the additional allegations,” Farrar said in a July statement. “I have directed that the investigation be broadened to identify any potential systemic or cultural issues within the department that need to be surfaced and addressed.”
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