Whistleblowing in Academia
Krzysztof Potempa
Dreamster dedicated to the prevention and treatment of mental health disorders that affect at least 1 in 6 people worldwide!
Last updated: 8 May 2021
This review consider: How safe is whistleblowing in academia? What do change makers think about bullying or harassment coverups in academia? The Rochester University, Dartmouth College, and The Sanger Institute Scandal. Life after whistleblowing. Nancy Olivieri's legacy. Who are some of the COVID-19 linked whistleblowers? What are the most common traits of 'Independent Investigations' into whistleblowing complaints?
Why might you need to blow the whistle?
Politicisation, corruption and suppression of science:
Failure of philanthropy organization(s) to positively reimagine research
Prominent scientific harassers at top universities who need to be held accountable:
Universities are actively covering up to protect harassing professor assets from the US to Australia:
How much does it cost to blow the whistle?
How safe is whistleblowing in academia?
Whistleblowing in academia is not perceived as a safe step as only 10.5% of 1126 academic whistleblowers surveyed felt that they would be protected to a large extent (1).
Whistleblowers also have a mixed record of success in False Claims Act (FCA) lawsuits against research universities that involve allegations of scientific misconduct:
What do change makers think about bullying or harassment coverups in academia?
How do some philanthropy charities investigate allegations?
Some key whistleblowing cases and whistleblower heroes in addition to Ula's case are featured below:
Rochester University Sex Scandal
In March 2020, University of Rochester Settled Sex Harassment Case by Florian Jaeger for $9.4 million, ending a two and a half year trial for justice by nine plaintiffs (Jessica Cantlon, Celeste Kidd, Richard Aslin, Steven Piantadosi, Brad Mahon, Ben Hayden, Elissa Newport and Keturah Bixby) through forced litigation that started in September 2017. The plaintiffs also alleged retaliation by other faculty members and administrators for blowing the whistle on their colleague and instructor (3).
Dartmouth College Rape and Hot Tub Parties Scandal
In November 2018, Chris Spargo reported on how Dartmouth College professors 'raped, sexted and groped students, invited cocaine use in class and hosted late night hot-tub parties' states $70M lawsuit filed by seven victims (3). Key highlights of this case are:
Wellcome Sanger Institute Scandal
Sanger employs almost 1,000 scientists and is supported by a recurrent 5-year grant from the Wellcome Trust, which amounts to £517 million (US$670 million) for 2017–21.
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Senior staff have been mistreated and bullied with many pressured to leave their posts at short notice as due process was not followed when staff raised grievances and that these problems have disproportionately affected female staff. Read more about it (4)
Whistleblower calls on universities to do more to safeguard students in 2017
Carole Mundell, a renowned professor of astrophysics who was a whistleblower in the case of a colleague accused of sexually harassing one of her students has called on universities to do more to improve the safeguarding of students (5).
Life after whistleblowing
Aubrey Blumsohn, who left his post as a senior lecturer in metabolic bone disease at the?University of Sheffield, after raising concerns in 2005 about research on a drug made by Procter & Gamble, a funder of research at Sheffield says whistleblowing?“damaged my career. But I’m not really sure I wanted a career by the end of it…There were so many people in prominent leadership positions who behaved so appallingly, I just couldn’t carry on within the profession. I just felt sick about the whole thing.” (6).
Nancy Olivieri and David Healy
As outlined in reference 7, not coincidentally, the Olivieri and Healy scandals share in common a number of key elements:
Who are some of the COVID-19 linked whistleblowers?
2020 whistleblower of the Year Candidate, Rebekah Jones @GeoRebekah not only filed a whistleblower retaliation case against Florida in July, but also became a vocal critic of @GovRonDeSantis, accusing him of minimizing the pandemic reported by @CCWhistleblower
Rick A Bright: For both his prescience and bravery in sounding the alarm about rampant “cronyism” and corruption at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services as he pressed for a more robust COVID-19 response and opposed the stockpiling of hydroxychloroquine, and for his scientific integrity, Dr. Rick Bright is nominated for Constantine Cannon’s?2020 Whistleblower of the Year. His lawyers, Debra Katz and Lisa Banks,?explained?that Dr. Bright “could no longer sit idly by and work for an administration that ignores scientific expertise, overrules public health guidance and disrespects career scientists, resulting in the sickness and death of hundreds of thousands of Americans.” (11)
What are the most common traits of 'Independent Investigations' into whistleblowing complaints?
As pointed out within the review on how to combat workplace misconduct (8), a report on institutional response to complaints in relation to sexual harassment that was prepared for the 1752 groups in September 2018, reports that most victims who seek justice are left disheartened and shattered after speaking up against the institution:
“I put my faith in the process, and I really regret having done that, because they didn’t get it right. They didn’t have the requisite training, they didn’t have the requisite understanding. They were not capable of making an assessment.”?Fiona, PhD student
The procedural failures that you may need to brace yourself for include your institutions:
Survival Guide To Whistleblowing
Also here is a guide to a fair process in whistleblowing on harassment in academia:
Victims have been advised to quit and sue rather than complain about harassment at universities:
Here are some guidelines from the UK:
Social media
@SangerScandal @DrNancyOlivieri @DrDavidHealy @kristinarapuano @batssiki @risss_evans @andreawcourtney @sbrietz @CGMundell @celestekidd @spiantado @CantlonLab
References