Administrators at the institution investigated allegations Irani had harassed mentees. That inquiry found, based on a "preponderance of evidence", Irani had violated the university’s policies on harassment, professional conduct, and use of information technology resources, according to the report.
Irani said: "My VA employment was targeted using an illegally leaked and misleading investigation report into fabricated allegations of harassment. The allegations were made by persons who worked in my lab who I had in good-faith previously reported for serious violations of research integrity. The investigation did not verify the allegations made by those I had reported."
Irani, who claims that the University of Iowa provost did not uphold the findings of the investigation, previously told he had "faced a campaign of retaliation" for reporting one colleague for research misconduct and others for failing to disclose conflicts of interest on grant applications to the National Institutes of Health. At that time, he did not dispute the investigation had found he had violated the university’s harassment policy.
