“Berkeley undertook a formal investigation and found Marcy guilty of repeated harassment over nearly a decade”.
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The University of California, Berkeley is defending its handling of sexual harassment complaints against a prominent astronomer amid accusations that the professor was inadequately disciplined for inappropriate behavior with students.
Investigations of this nature are confidential, however – and as such, Marcy’s colleagues at UC Berkeley were not informed of the results of the investigation until late last week when BuzzFeed broke the story of the allegations against Marcy.
Marcy has also stepped down as the principal investigator of the Breakthrough Listen project, a $100 million effort created to jumpstart the hunt for alien life. The department released a statement that night in which more than 20 current and emeritus members of the faculty implored the “UC Berkeley administration to re-evaluate its response to Marcy”. Schmelz chairs the American Astronomical Society’s Committee on the Status of Women in Astronomy and worked with women who believed Marcy had harassed them.
Sarah Ballard told Buzzfeed that after Marcy gave her a ride home from a cafe, he began to rub her back in the auto.
But it said Marcy has agreed to clear parameters around his future behavior with the knowledge he would be subject to automatic suspension or dismissal for any violations.
Mr Marcy has publically apologised for his behaviour, which the university found included unwanted massaging, kissing and groping, in a letter.
The resignation follows reports that 24 members of the University’s astronomy department called for his ouster.
It is important to understand that as Berkeley’s leadership considered disciplinary options, we did not have the authority, as per University of California policy, to unilaterally impose any disciplinary sanctions, including termination. Motherboard requests for comment from the Berkeley school of astronomy and multiple Berkeley faculty members were not immediately returned. The process would also be subject to a three-year statute of limitations.
“Our objective was to protect our students by immediately preventing any re-occurrence of the behavior described in the investigative report”, the two administrators said. We thus chose to establish, in writing, a strict set of behavioral standards that went beyond what is specifically proscribed by the University’s rules and regulations.
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But the university is now facing sharp criticism for what many say was an unsatsifactory disciplinary decision considering the findings. Now he has been singled out as a serial perpetrator of sexual harassment, reigniting conversations in the science community about making laboratories safe spaces for women.
