Graduate banned from reunions ‘after telling girl she had killer legs’
A GRADUATE of a top university made an extraordinary legal demand for the names of seven women whose complaints ensured he was banned from reunions.
Isaac Sarayiah, 46, wants to know the identity of the female staff at Durham University who claimed he made them ‘feel uncomfortable’.
The university deemed him ‘ inappropriate’, and even planned to have him tailed by a ‘chaperone’ when he kept turning up regardless.
But he says the only detail he has been given is an allegation he told one women she had ‘killer legs’. He denies doing so.
And self-proclaimed £80-anhour ‘life coach’ mr Sarayiah – who has attended some 50 alumni events since graduating 23 years ago – has since cost Durham £60,000 in legal fees.
mr Sarayiah, told the Daily mail: ‘I love this university – and it really hurts what they’ve done. They’ve tried to stop me going to events, but haven’t told me what I am supposed to have done, except that “someone said I told them they had ‘killer legs’”. It never happened.
‘Aside from that, all they say is “inappropriate behaviour”. It’s a vague word to get the desired effect without going into details.
‘They’ve spent £60,000 fighting my requests, while I would have settled for an apology and my rights to attend events again.’
mr Sarayiah, who lives in north London, did a one-year mSc in Corporate and International Finance at Durham. Online, mr Sarayiah brags that his personal blog – in which he writes about his sex life in detail – is ‘read in 140 countries’. He also posts pictures showing off his martial arts skills.
When the university told him he was no longer welcome at events because of complaints about his behaviour, he launched court action to find out exactly what these allegations were. At a hearing, a judge agreed that the university should release the information, but not the names of the women who made the accusations. But in defiance of the court, mr Sarayiah told Durham that the women could be identified.
Under a new high court judgment, Sir David Eady ruled that the university did not have to name the women – and they have now sent mr Sarayiah the lawyers’ £24,000 bill. He could face contempt of court proceedings.
But he plans to appeal, claiming the document listing seven women’s complaints ‘was malicious and had been conjured up’, despite a judge warning he had no such evidence.
mr Sarayiah last night told the Daily mail: ‘People cannot be allowed to make allegations anonymously. I can’t defend myself without knowing the details of the complaints. I did not act inappropriately in any way.’
A Durham University spokesman said: ‘As this matter is subject to ongoing legal proceedings we are unable to comment.’