BishopAccountability.org
	Part-Time Chaplain & Former Dean at St. Joe's Defendant in '99 Sexual Harassment Suit The Hawk March 5, 2011 http://www.sjuhawknews.com/news/part-time-chaplain-former-dean-at-st-joe-s-defendant-in-99-sexual-harassment-suit-1.2067326 A press release from the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests (SNAP) sent early yesterday afternoon leveled accusations against Saint Joseph's University for the recent re-hire of Thomas Gleeson, S.J., a part-time chaplain in the Office of Development and Alumni Relations. Gleeson was the target of a civil sexual harassment lawsuit in California in 1999 which alleged that he and two other priests at the Jesuit School of Theology at Berkeley had harassed John Bollard, a former seminarian. In the suit, Bollard alleged that Gleeson, who was president of the seminary at the time, asked him to masturbate with him and made other verbal sexual advances. The suit also alleged that the other Jesuit priests, Drew Sotelo and Anton (Tony) Harris, sent Bollard sexually explicit emails with pornographic pictures, as well as asked the then-25-year-old to cruise gay bars. The case made its way to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which provided a groundbreaking ruling that determined that sexual harassment against religious institutions must be treated the same as any other harassment claims. The suit was ultimately settled out of court in 2000 by the Jesuits with no acknowledgment of wrongdoing through a private settlement for an undisclosed amount. The 1999 lawsuit sought one million dollars. The case was featured on "60 Minutes" and represented the first sexual harassment suit by a former seminarian against the Jesuits, according to SNAP's release. Bollard subsequently withdrew from the seminary and is currently employed at the University of California-Los Angeles as an administrator. In 2009, SNAP also protested Gleeson's presence on the Board of Trustees at Wheeling Jesuit University in West Virginia. Gleeson has also sat on the board of Alvernia College in Pennsylvania and Georgetown Preparatory School. In the 1970s, Gleeson served as the dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at St. Joe's. According to the Office of Development and Alumni Relations, "[Gleeson] provides Grace and Blessings [sic] at alumni functions, represents the University at funerals and celebrates [and] concelebrates Mass at some alumni events." Yesterday's press release from SNAP ultimately called for a protest that day at noon outside of the Archdiocese of Philadelphia's offices in Center City. The release also stated that "SNAP wants Cardinal Justin Rigali and St. Joseph [sic] officials to suspend Gleeson and investigate allegations." Saint Joseph's University President Timothy Lannon, S.J., sent separate emails to students and staff regarding Gleeson's employment at the university and the allegations leveled against him late yesterday afternoon. Both emails indicated that the university was made aware of Gleeson's past by a recent letter from the Archdiocese of Philadelphia. "According to a letter recently received by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia, afterward [Gleeson's tenure as dean], and while living in Berkeley, California, Father Gleeson was accused of sexual harassment by a former seminarian," Lannon's email said. However, in a Philadelphia Daily News article published this morning, Assistant Vice President for University Communications Harriet Goodheart stated that "we were aware of the allegations of 11 years ago, which he denied, and was cleared for assignment." Phone calls to Goodheart's office were not returned by press time. Harris, one of the other priests involved in the 1999 lawsuit, arrived at Seattle University in 2001 as an assistant to President Stephen Sundborg, S.J., overseeing the Office of Mission and Ministry. When reports of the 1999 lawsuit surfaced in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer on Oct. 6, 2006, Harris resigned from his position as vice president one week later.
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