I am going to bet that Marcy ends up “resigning.”
I predict he will move to some kind of research institute.
I agree that he won’t end up without a job or out of his field.
Maybe I am naïve but I would hope that Exxon or Anadarko or some of the larger companies would be worried about potential lawsuits?? unfortunately, my experience with law firms was not good in the sexual harassment department and quite a few of my friends no longer practice law because they got tired of the BS.
Usually that’s the way these sort of situations end, yes. Though I really don’t see what forcing someone to, in effect, switch jobs accomplishes.
I used to work for a large consulting firm where there were partners/principals who regularly harassed women, or hit on subordinates. The women always ended up leaving, and the party went on for the guys at the top.
“large companies would fire this guy”
If he had a record of achievement in the corporate world parallel to what he’s done in astronomy? That would make him a superstar almost on the Bill Gates level, generating billions for his company’s shareholders. He certainly would not get fired absent a giant national scandal. A few lawsuits are a small price to pay for hanging on to performer like that.
Whether someone working in a large company would get fired for this type of thing probably depends a lot on whether that person is in a position of power within the company. An employee on the losing faction of an internal political battle, or who is viewed as easily replaceable, is more likely to be fired than a well connected employee who has many allies in powerful positions in the company or who is otherwise viewed as difficult to replace. Note that someone in a position of power within the company may be better able to bully others into not reporting the problem, so those who would be in a position to dismiss the employee may not find out for quite a while.
Workplace politics can get pretty ugly, and universities are not exempt.
Exactly. My former company, a Fortune <50, had a lecherous CFO. But the CFO was well like on The Street. When he spoke, our stock moved.
My car pool buddy, one of our corp insurance managers, used to joke, that we had separate insurance rider just for CFO complaint coverage.
Universities are just as subject to lawsuits over this sort of thing as large companies are (in some cases, even more so).
dfbdfb, the problem is that universities have lawyers on their pay role and students or staff or faculty often lack resources-money to pay a lawyer. That is how universities get away with this crap. Some universities are as corrupt as anyone sitting in prison right now. The difference is the resources that they have to keep people quiet. I know of one that simply marginalizes anyone willing to open their mouth. And no, nonprofits that give the appearance of being able to support such suits don’t do so. And regardless of those that promise to provide support, rarely is the support more than a token and it is usually only available after the fact. So it does not help. I’ve known people who have endured horrid situations and where the officials in the universities that are supposed to help the victim added insult to injury by using all the information provided by the victim to support the university.
Universities known to be corrupt on one side of campus or in one department are usually corrupt through and through. And you can see that by noticing that universities with substantial problems have multiple instances of corruption. It may be sports first and then you’ll hear that the institution had hidden financial impropriety then you’ll hear that they lied about this and that. Exceptions are those universities that seem to act to stop the conduct without outside agencies forcing them to do so.
My advice to parents and prospective students is to do a thorough search of any university that a student is considering. And to avoid if there is a history of corrupt conduct. Don’t buy the idea that the corruption was limited to one part of the campus or one activity. Also if you find information that a university was corrupt, consider that any settlements many include secrets. AVOID!
yes, you are economically naive. If a senior officer can move markets, then a few hundred thousand dollar settlement every so often is the cost of doing business. Think about, if VW purposely designed a program to fake millions of tests around the world, potentially worth hundreds of millions, a harassment claim every so often is seen as not big deal.
I agree; give him a nice clean cell far away from people he can harm, and let him continue his work.
I’d find it easier to get another job after complaining of harassment at a job than recover from being undermined by a well known prof in my area of specialty and build a successful career in that specialty.
Also, it is great but unusual that others at the university supported those that complained. That usually does not happen. Instead, colleagues often 'circle the wagon" with the wagon being the perpetrator. Senior white male faculty members can often engage in egregious conduct with the result being that the victim is blamed, marginalized and treated with disdain. Pretty disgusting but common in universities-but not at all universities.
Why would colleagues side with the perpetrator? The reason for that is obvious. Anyone with tenure at a university gets it by being endorsed by their colleagues. it is like an exclusive club. Those in the same department are often beholden to certain senior members of that department. And, that department or specialty area competes with others for resources so women can’t necessarily count on women in other departments or specialty areas for support. They may already dislike that department for taking the stapler their department feels entitled to. It can be a nasty climate.
I would avoid any university where there is a history of the university trying to quiet anyone reporting wrong doing. If you see instances that an employee/student/faculty member/staff made claims, the university denied the claims, but the claims were found to be accurate, run the other way. The university has shown itself to be corrupt. And attempts to hide the one situation you read about probably pales in comparison to those you will never have the opportunity to read about because most attempts to quiet reporters of misconduct are effective. This is true for misconduct regarding sports, frats, harassment or any other area. A history of trying to cover means that you should avoid!
Not all universities engage in cover ups even though bad things can happen at any of them. The issue is how things were dealt with once they were brought to the attention of university officials. Was there transparency or cover ups? Denials followed by law suits in which the university is forced to be honest suggests that particular place is worth avoiding. And any university that denies but is ultimately shown to have been dishonest after an external investigation is probably a toxic place. By the way, ten years is not too long ago to be relevant today. So do your homework.
Now hearing that sexual harassment complaints were filed against Marcy when he was at San Francisco State University.
It comes down to power relationships. Sexual harassers in positions of power can manipulate workplace politics in their favor to prevent reporting or minimize the fallout of reporting. Obviously, they only pick on those in weaker power positions – those who harass people more politically powerful than they are in the workplace won’t last long.
While tenure in theory does not protect against dismissal for cause, it is one of the things that confers workplace political power to a faculty member. A tenured faculty member has substantial implied power over non-tenured faculty, graduate students, and advanced undergraduates in the same specialty area, particularly if the specialty area is not one where there are non-academic jobs to be found. The highly competitive nature of getting to a tenured faculty position (based on the numbers of aspirants, and the percentage who get “weeded out” at each step) only increases the power of the tenured faculty over all others aspiring to join that club.
Also, don’t assume the department chair is the person with the most power.
My “breaking news” feed indicates Marcy has initiated the process for submitting his resignation. Allegedly the acting chair of the department circulated an email this morning.