Two tenured professors accused of sexual harassment at the University of Missouri-Kansas City said they resigned to protect their families and because they couldn’t afford to continue defending themselves against the university.

The university last year settled a sexual harassment lawsuit that centered around the professors for $1.1 million.

Psychology professors C. Keith Haddock and Walker S. Carlos Poston II said they deny they sexually harassed a former UMKC graduate student and a faculty member or created a hostile atmosphere in the UMKC psychology lab they ran.

The resignation agreement provides for the professors to be paid through the end of their contract year – Aug. 31, 2009 – and for them to fulfill their remaining academic obligations.