UCSD’s First Professor of Practice Faces Allegations of Sexual Misconduct

UC San Diego’s first ‘Professor of Practice’ and former County Supervisor, Nathan Fletcher, has been accused of sexual harassment of a student. Professor of Urban Studies, Juli Beth Hinds, claims that one of her students confided allegations of sexual harassment while the student was working for him. Hinds alleges, in a lawsuit being brought against the County of San Diego and Fletcher, that after she came forward to the school about the misconduct, the county retaliated against her and quietly cut ties with her Regional Water Equity consulting firm. This accusation follows another claim of sexual assault against Fletcher, made by former transit worker Grecia Figueroa just a week prior. 

Fletcher was appointed by the university to be the, “First, ‘Professor of Practice’ at UC San Diego” in January 2013. 

The university’s article announcing Fletcher’s position states that professors hired under this title are “leaders in their fields but do not have the academic backgrounds typically required for a faculty appointment at the university.” 

The article also stated that Fletcher’s appointment was part-time, as he would continue his new role as senior director of corporate development at Qualcomm.

According to an article written by CBS 8, on April 7th, 2023 Hinds went to UC San Diego’s Office of Student Disability Services to inform them that a student came to her, “during her office hours to report what is described in the claim as, Fletcher’s ‘harassing conduct.’”

Responding to her claim, a UC San Diego administrator told Hinds to file a Title IX complaint, which is the school procedure for handling complaints of sexual discrimination or violence.

In an article by CBS 8, Hinds claims “a different UC San Diego administrator sent her an email requesting the name of the student who reported the harassment as well as confirmation that it was Fletcher who allegedly harassed her” on the same day as the report. 

Hinds brought a lawsuit against the County of San Diego and Fletcher after filing the Title IX claim. According to an article by CBS 8, Hinds’s lawsuit against the county, as well as Fletcher, states, “[T]he county instructed UCSD…to eliminate [Hinds’s contracts] in retaliation for [Hinds’s] obligatory filing of a Title IX complaint against Fletcher, the Chairman of the Board of Supervisors for the county, on behalf of her student who reported his harassing conduct.”

Hinds is asking for $280,000 in lost wages due to Fletcher and the county’s alleged retaliation against her.

Currently, the university has yet to make a formal statement regarding Fletcher’s employment status.

When The Triton reached out to UCSD’s Department of Communications for comment they stated, “Nathan Fletcher is no longer employed at UC San Diego. The health, well-being, and safety of our campus community members is our top priority. All allegations of sexual harassment and sexual violence are taken very seriously. ”

Fletcher, the Department of Urban Studies and Planning, and the Title XI Office were unavailable for comment on the matter. Hinds refused to comment. 

Hind’s case follows a precursor to a civil lawsuit by Metropolitan Transit System employee, Figueroa. In the precursor, Figueroa claims that Fletcher had assaulted her on multiple occasions while serving on the transit system’s board of directors. Figueroa then filed a lawsuit in the San Diego Superior Court against Fletcher as well as the Metropolitan Transit officials accusing the parties involved in firing her unjustly, and alleging they intended to keep her silent about Fletcher’s alleged assault. 

In both Hinds and Figueroa’s lawsuits against Fletcher, he is accused of having used his power and influence as former County Supervisor to retaliate against the women coming forward against him. 

Just two days before Figueroa’s accusations were made public, Fletcher resigned from running for State Senate despite amassing “nearly $1 million in campaign cash” as well as his position on the transit’s system board of directors according to The San Diego Union-Tribune. 

According to the same article, Fletcher attributed his resignation to ‘medical leave’ in search of treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder as well as alcohol abuse.

Fletcher and his attorney Danielle Hultenius Moore released a statement for immediate release via X, formerly Twitter, on March 29th, 2023 refuting Figueroa’s claims. The statement claims that “Their interactions were consensual and Mr. Fletcher does not and never had authority over her employment. We will aggressively fight this issue in court and the full record will show the truth.” The statement is included below. 

Fletcher’s legal team then filed a motion to strike on behalf of the defendant, insisting that the court dismiss the allegations of sexual assault and harassment. 

After filing the motion, Fletcher’s legal team also filed a declaration in support of the motion to strike providing the court with screenshots of direct messages on Instagram between Fletcher and Figueroa. Fletcher’s lawyers argue that these messages are evidence that Figueroa was the perpetrator of the alleged sexual misconduct. The motion admits the only fault of the defendant to be, “engaging in consensual interactions with someone outside of his marriage.”

At a hearing on April 26th, 2024, a judge found “[Fletcher’s] requests are otherwise overbroad and ambiguous.” 

Less than one day after allegations against Fletcher became public, a victim came forward to tell Fox 5 News, “Fletcher harassed her while she was an intern for his non-profit. This accuser told FOX 5 that the harassment occurred in 2015, while she was a student at UC San Diego.” 

It is unclear if this person is the same student Hinds alleges confided in her regarding Fletcher’s misconduct.

Alessandra Breall is a Staff Writer for the Triton, and Editor of Arts and Culture