BishopAccountability.org
	Clergy Victims Troubled by O'Malley Actions By Denise Lavoie Rutland Herald May 26, 2006 http://www.rutlandherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article? AID=/20060526/NEWS/605260382/1004/EDUCATION05 BOSTON — For victims of clergy sexual abuse, the Boston Archdiocese's initial handling of sexual harassment allegations against its top health care executive had a familiar ring: multiple allegations, minimal consequence and secrecy. "There are extraordinary and painful parallels," said David Clohessy, director of the Survivors Network of those Abused by Priests. Dr. Robert Haddad, president and CEO of the Caritas Christi Health Care System, resigned early Thursday amid allegations he harassed more than a dozen female employees by subjecting them to unwanted hugs and kisses. His forced departure comes a week after a private reprimand from Cardinal Sean O'Malley. After learning of four allegations, the Caritas board supported the reprimand and ordered Haddad to take sexual harassment sensitivity training. But after The Boston Globe made public the allegations and O'Malley's reprimand Sunday, at least 10 more women made similar allegations against Haddad. O'Malley then called another meeting of the Caritas board of governors, which met into the early morning hours Thursday. Haddad resigned after the board gave him the option of being fired or stepping down with salary plus benefits for 10 months. Haddad, who is of Lebanese descent, has attributed the complaints to a cultural misunderstanding, saying that in his culture, hugs and kisses are "warmly given and received." He also said he felt he did not do anything inappropriate, which angered O'Malley, according to an archdiocesan source who asked not to be identified. The initial decision to reprimand rather than fire Haddad was criticized by some clergy sex abuse victims, who said they felt O'Malley sought to protect Haddad, just as church officials for decades protected priests who sexually abused children. O'Malley was installed as Boston's archbishop in July 2003, seven months after Cardinal Bernard Law resigned amid intense criticism of his role in moving priests who had been accused of abuse from parish to parish instead of removing them. "The fact that this man was not immediately terminated makes me wonder … whether they've learned anything over the last four years?" said Gary Bergeron, who was molested by a priest in the 1970s in Lowell. O'Malley's spokesman, Terrence Donilon, said O'Malley initially sought to make a reasoned decision "based on the facts that were presented" to him when he was told of the allegations by the first four women. O'Malley sought the advice of three outside lawyers who are experts in employment and sexual harassment law. One of the lawyers found that although Haddad's conduct was improper and violated state and federal employment law, it "was not of an exceptionally egregious nature," according to the archdiocese. The lawyers recommended a stern reprimand, a requirement that Haddad attend sensitivity training and that he be warned that any future complaints would result in his immediate termination. Donilon said that as soon as the additional women came forward, O'Malley asked the board to meet again. "There was no hesitation," Donilon said. "The cardinal approached this thoughtfully and with a sense for an outcome that was just and fair for all involved." O'Malley has been widely praised for his efforts to help victims of clergy sexual abuse. Within months of arriving in Boston, he helped negotiate an $85 million settlement for more than 550 victims. O'Malley was scheduled on Thursday evening to begin a pilgrimage of "repentance and hope" by holding special prayers and Masses at nine parishes where there has been an especially painful history of sexual abuse by priests. But Mitchell Garabedian, a lawyer who has represented about 200 clergy abuse victims, called O'Malley's initial reluctance to fire Haddad "business as usual" for the archdiocese. "This indicates that the cardinal is continuing to implement the old-school standards of moral failure used in the clergy sexual abuse crisis," Garabedian said. Helen Drinan, the top human resources executive at Caritas, had strongly recommended that Haddad be fired after receiving the initial complaints from four women. After Haddad was reprimanded, Drinan sent the board an e-mail in which she recalled the clergy sex abuse scandal, warning about "what will befall this organization when the public learns that the church in Boston has once again put the powerful predator ahead of the powerless victim." Employment attorneys said it's not always clear-cut how to discipline an employee accused of sexual harassment. Many contracts have provisions that require an employer to give an employee notice of a problem and a chance to correct it before they can be terminated, said Nancy Shilepsky, a well-known Boston employment lawyer. Deciding what constitutes sexual harassment is also open to interpretation, said Shilepsky, who is not involved in the Haddad case. "What constitutes what we call hostile environment? Is a hug sexually harassing? How many hugs does it have to be?" she said. "There are gradations. Some activities are clearly on one side or the other, but there may be some that may be more in the middle."
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.