Ruling revives lawsuit over release of harassment report

PHOENIX (AP) — An Arizona court ruling revives an academic's lawsuit accusing the University of Arizona of breaching the confidentiality of a 2005 investigative report into harassment allegations against him.

The Court of Appeals ruling says a trial judge erred in dismissing key parts of Timothy Slater's lawsuit stemming the 2010 release of the report to an astronomer under a public records request that the university later said was granted by mistake.

Slater was an associate professor of astronomy for the Tucson-based school from 2001-2008.

In 2015, a congresswoman read portions of the report into the congressional record to raise awareness about sexual harassment in university science departments.