Covington Follow-up: A Call for Your Stories
On Thursday, Dec. 9, Covington & Burling LLP released its report following eight months of investigation. The investigation was commissioned by OHSU’s board of directors to look into OHSU’s workplace environment around sexual harassment, racism, discrimination and retaliation.
For those of us who have experienced racism or sexual harassment ourselves, or who have tried to help our coworkers navigate OHSU’s confusing reporting system, the report was equally validating and frustrating. This quote sums up so many of our experiences:
“Many community members described the tendency for OHSU to doubt those who come forward and report misconduct, which deters others from reporting. One focus group participant remarked, ‘I have made reports in the past that were not taken seriously and I was forced into a meeting where I was told I was imagining the problem.’ Another participant noted, ‘I have reported a discriminatory report before and [HR] stated that it was not [discrimination], when in fact it was.’ Union leaders, managers, and faculty drew Covington’s attention to this issue, describing their views that HR ‘gaslights’ people.”
The workforce at OHSU feels unheard and unsafe, whether due to:
HR incompetence:
“Over the past 12 years, OHSU has not devoted time and resources to ensuring that HR is led by an effective and experienced leader, relying instead on internal or short-term personnel with narrower skill sets for this complex position.”
Short staffing in HR:
“Every HR member interviewed noted that HR is understaffed and that the HR Department headcount has always felt ‘extremely light’ compared to the heavy volume of work. Notably, former VP of HR, Moawad, felt that HR was ‘unmanageable’ as the volume of work was ‘unbelievable’ and the team was ‘short staffed.’”
Or managers ignoring HR recommendations:
“Although in many organizations managers communicate disciplinary decisions to employees, or work collaboratively with HR to determine an appropriate disciplinary response, at OHSU, managers have full authority to disregard the recommendations of HR, and often do.”
Now that the Covington investigation has been completed and reported out on, our union’s concern is that OHSU will make its usual apologies and its usual promises to “do better” and then follow that up — as usual — with little to no real, lasting change. We want you to help us make it impossible for OHSU to sweep this under the rug.
We hear you. We believe you.
If you have a story you would like to tell, please reach out to us via email. We would like to share your stories by whatever method you feel comfortable and safe with us doing so. We want to put names and faces to these experiences when we can, but we also want to highlight the struggles of those who are unable to speak openly due to fear of retaliation. Please let us know in your email if you wish to remain anonymous and we will honor your request.
We recognize that telling and retelling these stories can be traumatizing. Please share only as you are able, and be sure you are taking care of yourself during what may be a difficult process. We encourage anyone who is struggling to reach out to the employee assistance program, the employee resource groups or organizations such as RAINN for support.
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