An engineering professor has been ordered to pay Monash University and some of its senior academics $900,000 after losing a sexual harassment and sex discrimination case against it.

Dr Qizhi Chen's 53 claims against the university and two other professors were dismissed in the Federal Court in February. Justice Richard Tracey then said that Dr Chen had reconstructed otherwise "innocent" events as discriminatory or sexual harassment. He described her as a "most unimpressive witness" whose allegations were not supported in evidence and ordered her to pay the university and professors' legal costs.

Justice Tracey last week also ordered Dr Chen to pay the university and academics an additional $900,000 in indemnity costs, because she had rejected their early offer of $30,000 to settle the case.

While the decision to award costs to the losing party was discretionary, a Federal Court rule also stated that a party was entitled to costs if "an applicant unreasonably fails to accept an offer."

"(Dr Chen's) failure to accept what was...a generous offer of settlement before any substantial costs had been incurred on either side was, in my view, unreasonable," he said. "She was in possession of independent legal advice which highlighted the weakness of her case and the respondents' solicitors had gone to some trouble to ensure that she was aware of the implications of any failure by her to accept the offer."