Gary Xu

URBANA, Ill. (WAND) – A federal jury ruled in the favor of a former UI professor Thursday, rejecting claims of two former students who claimed they were victims of sexual misconduct. 

Gary Xu was also awarded $800,000 in damages for the loss of work he suffered that must be paid by one of the women and another plaintiff who published online allegations about him. 

A lawsuit filed in 2019 against a former University of Illinois department head claimed he sexually and emotionally exploited students.

According to an 87-page complaint obtained by The News-Gazette, Xu ran the U of I East Asian Languages and Cultures department from 2012 to 2015. 

The complaint alleged ten charges, including sex trafficking, forced labor, emotional distress, involuntary servitude and gender violence. The plaintiffs sought damages and unpaid wages, per the newspaper.

The News Gazette reports that, "After three days, the nine-member jury took only two hours to conclude that the two female plaintiffs had not proven their claims of gender violence, forced labor, sex trafficking and involuntary servitude, the names of the federal statutes under which they sought redress."

One of the plaintiffs, a now 28-year-old Chinese woman, alleged Xu raped and beat during a two-year relationship that started in 2013 when she was a 19-year-old undergraduate student of his. At the time, Xu was 45 and the head of the Department of East Asian Languages and Cultures.

The woman now lives and works in China. 

Xu never admitted a consensual sexual relationship with the woman.

The other plaintiff, a now 32-year-old woman, brought forward one single incident in which she claimed Xu put his hands on her shoulders and tried to kiss her in a stairwell at a hotel in China where they were working on an art exhibition. She sought damages of $100,000.

The attorney for the 28-year-old woman had sought $1.2 million for her. 

The News Gazette reports that a male plaintiff who made posts about Xu's alleged misconduct on several Chinese social-media platforms said he was "stunned" by the decision and said he "still feels he was right to warn others about Xu."

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