This story was updated at 3:25 p.m.

Eric Schaeffer, the co-founder and artistic director of Signature Theatre in Arlington, is leaving the company amid accusations of sexually inappropriate behavior.

Allegations about Schaeffer’s behavior began to multiply after the actor Thomas Keegan wrote this week on his Facebook page about a May 2018 incident in which he alleges Schaeffer groped his genitals. Signature posted a statement Monday night calling the allegation “false, misleading and without merit.” In a statement to WAMU, the company said it hired a law firm to investigate the claim in 2018 and found it to be not valid.

In a statement, Schaeffer did not address the allegations, instead saying: “I hope that the next generation of leaders can weather the many storms our profession faces. To do so, it needs to pull together, dedicate itself to the work, and avoid the toxic polarization that damages not just the institutions, but the work itself, the art.” His retirement is effective on June 30.

Signature’s statement on Monday reiterating its support for Schaeffer led actors and theater professionals to share their own stories about a sexualized atmosphere they say Schaeffer fostered. Signature also disputed characterizations of the company culture as being overly sexualized.

Schaeffer is a prominent figure in the D.C. theater community: He is one of the longest serving artistic directors in the region. Signature has won a Tony and nearly 100 Helen Hayes awards under his leadership. He has also directed on Broadway.

In recent days, dozens of D.C. theater professionals have shared stories of sexual harassment and assault at theaters across the region. More than 70 members of a private Facebook group for women and nonbinary local theater professionals have posted about inappropriate workplace behavior, harassment and, in some cases, rape. The allegations name employees of more than 20 theaters and university theater departments in D.C., Maryland and Virginia.

Theater professionals who spoke to WAMU say that despite these blurry lines, Schaeffer acted inappropriately.

Keegan says the 2018 incident occurred at the Helen Hayes Awards, a professional theater awards show for the Washington region, at the Anthem in Southwest D.C. Keegan was standing near the back of the venue watching his wife, the actor Alyssa Wilmoth Keegan, co-host the show. About halfway through the event, Schaeffer approached him. Keegan knew Schaeffer well, from when Keegan acted in a 2012 Signature production of “Dying City.”

What followed, Keegan says, was a “bewildering five minute exchange” in which Schaeffer repeatedly grabbed and fondled Keegan’s genitals over his pants. Keegan remembers physically moving Schaeffer’s wrist away from his genitals twice. Schaeffer responded by asking Keegan out and grabbing his genitals again. Keegan told him he wasn’t interested, grabbed Schaeffer’s arm and pushed him away. He then removed himself when a few other actors, including Hasani Allen, approached them.

“I felt like I was interrupting something. I had this sense that I should walk away,” Allen says of the vibe when he walked up. Allen had acted for Schaeffer in 2016 and says Signature’s culture at the time was “toxic.”

Afterward Keegan, who is polyamorous, says he texted his wife and girlfriend. He also texted his friend Ryan Rilette, the artistic director at Round House Theatre in Bethesda. The two met up on the Anthem’s balcony.

“He was visibly shaken and very upset,” Rilette says. “I had never heard any stories about Eric, because the musical theater world and the non-musical theater world, we don’t share a lot of the same artists. I was very surprised.” Rilette says the Signature investigator never reached out to him. He also says he called Maggie Boland, Signature’s managing director, to inform her that he’d agreed to speak to the Washington Post about the event.

Keegan says he wondered if he should have punched Schaeffer or used physical force to get away. “I’m a big guy. I can and have handled myself when I had to,” he says. “The politics of claiming abuse as a man are complicated already.”

He never filed a police report, saying he didn’t think it would have amounted to anything at the time. However, he did file a report about the incident with Signature’s board. Schaeffer was put on temporary leave while a third-party investigation took place.

Signature says it hired Linda Thatcher of Thatcher Law Firm in Greenbelt, Maryland, to conduct its independent investigation. It says she was unable to find any third parties to corroborate Keegan’s allegation. Thatcher told Signature that Keegan “showed a motivation for money and publicity,” based on two events: he reached out to a Washington Post reporter prior to contacting the theater, and he hired a pro bono lawyer to write a letter to Signature seeking $250,000 in damages, which Signature refused. Keegan says he sought damages to cover the cost of therapy and lost wages, but chose not to move forward with the case after receiving Signature’s response.

Keegan tells WAMU he supplied the investigator with multiple names of people who could speak to his experiences that night, including his wife, who says she was never contacted. He did not receive a copy of the investigation, and Signature declined to share it with WAMU.

Others shared experiences that corroborated this behavior, one of whom was part of Thatcher’s review: Joe Carlson, an actor who now co-owns Charm City Books in Baltimore with his wife.

In 2016, Carlson volunteered at Signature’s Summer Hummer, an annual burlesque show directed by Schaeffer. The event was a popular fundraiser for a program for theater professionals in need, as well as a night of debauchery featuring heavy drinking and racy performances. A former Board member who sat on Signature’s board from 2014-17, remembers one Summer Hummer when Schaeffer ran naked across the stage exchange for a $100 donation.

While slinging beer at the event, Carlson remembers Schaeffer and another man approaching him. Carlson says Schaeffer repeatedly slapped Carlson’s genitals before grabbing them through his sweatpants, while the other man put his arm around Carlson’s neck and flexed.

Carlson says he loudly told the men to get off, and they backed away. Carlson then went backstage and told a friend what happened. He says the friend responded, “That sounds about right.”

Carlson didn’t file a complaint with Signature — he says he rationalized it by convincing himself that “it’s part of the business [of theater] to be inappropriately touched and sexualized against your will.” He later learned of Keegan’s experience and agreed to participate in Signature’s investigation.

Signature says Carlson’s account of the event during the investigation was inconsistent. The theater also cited Carlson’s decision to participate in the Summer Hummer fundraiser the following year as reason for finding his allegation not credible.

Others, who did not file complaints, say Schaeffer imbued the workplace with a sexualized atmosphere more than was necessary. “Even the shows are very sexualized,” the former board member, says. “If it calls for a kiss, he’ll make it a love scene, and they’ll be naked. It’s very apparent in how he directs.” The former Board member served for four years before leaving in 2017 after growing frustrated about what he called a lack of transparency around the theater’s finances.

“It’s a culture of cover-up, of hiding things, of putting people on the board who are not going to shake things up, who are not going to sniff around,” the former Board member says, referring to both the theater’s financial situation and the Keegan investigation.

WAMU spoke to a former Signature employee who worked on the theater’s business side, who did not want her name used for fear of professional repercussions. She says she reported Schaeffer to Signature’s human resources department in 2012 after he repeatedly called her by sexualized names, including derogatory terms for female genitalia. She says she never got a response from human resources. Signature claims it has no record of the complaint in its files.

Mick Coughlan, a member of Signature’s crew from 2012 to 2016, recalls an incident during a 2013 run of the musical “Miss Saigon.” Schaeffer allegedly pulled his pants down and pantomimed receiving fellatio from a prop statue of Ho Chi Min, and asked Coughlan to take a photo on Schaeffer’s cell phone. Coughlan said Schaeffer then posted the photograph in the cast’s closed Facebook group.

Coughlan also confirmed that a sexual atmosphere permeated the Signature community throughout the time he worked there. “The culture for the incident that Thomas [Keegan] was describing was definitely there,” he told WAMU. “It was definitely very prevalent at Signature.” Signature disagrees with the characterization.

Another actor recalls a January night in 2017 when he was introduced to Schaeffer by a friend acting in Signature’s run of Titanic. The two discussed working on a performance of the show “Big Fish” together. A few days later, he received a series of Facebook messages from Schaeffer full of what the actor called “sexual innuendo,” including a question about the actor’s sword-fighting skills.

“There is no sword-fighting in Big Fish,” the actor told WAMU. “I was just really disappointed and disgusted and angry.” He says the exchange played into his decision to leave theater entirely.

Signature refused to comment on these stories, which it called “anonymous complaints.” “If complaints are made to Signature, we will investigate according to the balanced and fair policies of the organization,” it said.

Some theater professionals stood by Signature and Schaeffer after Monday’s statement. The actress Rachel Zampelli, who has worked with Signature on and off for years, says Schaeffer’s behavior was not out of the ordinary for the theater world. Zampelli acted with Keegan in Signature’s production of Dying City in 2012, during which time the two had an extramarital affair. She also says Keegan’s pursuit of her could be characterized as inappropriate sexual behavior. Keegan disagrees with the characterization but doesn’t deny that he pursued a relationship with her and vice versa.

“It’s the craziest job in the world,” she says. “The lines that are set in other workplaces? They are bent.” She added that if Schaeffer deserves to lose his job, “we all do.”

Zampelli believes the 2018 allegation led Schaeffer to amend his behavior and put up more boundaries between himself and Signature actors and employees. Signature Theater has also not held a Summer Hummer event since 2017.

“I think [Schaeffer] very honestly looked at [Keegan’s allegation] and said yes, I understand. And the board chose to keep him, I think for a reason: for him holding himself accountable for whatever mistakes he’s made.”

Schaeffer is not the only artistic director actively facing allegations of sexually inappropriate behavior. The board of Flying V Theatre in Bethesda fired artistic director Jason Schlafstein on Monday after numerous women accused him over the weekend on Facebook of sexual and verbal abuse.

The women also posted on the page of Jon Rubin, a Flying V board member and associate artistic director, who they said was complicit in Schalfstein’s behavior. Rubin resigned late Monday night.

A 2017 internal investigation at Flying V concluded that Schlafstein had “inappropriately crossed professional and personal boundaries” with female members of the theater community “that could reasonably be understood as an abuse of power,” according to the theater. Schlafstein was given a warning, but no further action was taken.

Rubin, a locally well-regarded and trained intimacy director, has experience guiding actors and directors through sexually explicit on-stage scenes. He told WAMU in 2018 about the conversations he would frequently organize for cast members about consent and boundaries.

“We will work these next three weeks to listen, gather insight from our community, and do research before establishing a further plan of action,” the Flying V Board said in a statement. It says it will release “additional information regarding our plan” in mid-July.

Board director Judy Gilbert Levey declined to comment.

This story was updated with additional relevant reporting about Eric Schaeffer and Signature Theatre. The story was also corrected to clarify the circumstances around Ryan Rilette’s call to Maggie Boland. He called to inform her that he’d agreed to speak to the Washington Post, not to share his concerns about Schaeffer.

This story originally appeared on WAMU.