Internal Investigations: Worth the Investment? A Cross-Post with LinkedIn

All, it will be no surprise to anyone that we are on multiple sites online.  We posted an article on LinkedIn that is reproduced below.  This is an article about how an Ivy League institution failed to take the proper steps once it received serious allegations about one of its doctors, and the consequences thereof. #888 #privateinvestigator #privateinvestigations #internalinvestigations #independentinvestigations #columbia #propublica #newyorkmagazine 

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The answer, as always, is that it depends. But the real answer is hell yes!!!

ProPublica, in a collaboration with New York Magazine, published a story today about a doctor at Columbia University in the City of New York (Columbia) convicted of multiple instances of sexual assault. Yes, that Columbia. The Ivy League institution. The details are absolutely horrific, and ProPublica/New York Magazine do a wonderful job of breaking down the unbelievably awful details. Please read the article. It's important.

One thing that stood out to me was Columbia's repeated failures regarding the (at the time) assertions of the most serious impropriety by the doctor. The article poignantly detailed a specific incident in which the doctor allegedly licked a patient's vagina on a Friday. The patient's boyfriend called 911 - twice. The doctor was arrested and quickly released. On Saturday, police spoke with the department's administrator. By Monday, the doctor was cleared to return to work as long as he "had a chaperone with him while examining patients."

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

He was back to work the next day (Tuesday). He practiced for another five weeks, during which he allegedly assaulted eight (8) patients.

Columbia made mistake after mistake in the whole ordeal over the space of decades. The doctor's bosses even acknowledged some allegations in writing at least twice. How did the alarm bells not go off?? They did not help themselves by performing an incompetent internal investigation that failed to interview the doctor or his accuser(s). Further, the article states: "Columbia never commissioned an independent investigation into what happened under its roof."

So what happened?

Columbia is facing the consequences of its (in)action. It paid a $71.5 million settlement in December 2019 with 79 patients. It paid $165 million to settle claims for 147 other victims in October 2022. And it appears that more are coming.

Good. They should. In my view, if Columbia can't protect patients it should be shut down. But that's me. I'd cry crocodile tears if the whole place burned down. I do not know how it can ethically continue to "educate" Americans. Columbia has a $13 billion endowment. So it will pay to make things go away. Disgusting.

Takeaway

This could have been a different story with a much better ending. If Columbia had taken action immediately upon the first allegation, many victims would have been spared his atrocious actions. In addition, Columbia could have taken the right step to launch an independent investigation and turn over information to local authorities. It could have rightfully said that "Abuse can happen anywhere, even at Columbia. But we actively root out such evil behavior without exception and without respect to however respected or well-credentialed the perpetrator(s) may be."

So I leave it to you, dear reader. Which message would you rather send? That you protect, hide, and actively enable sexual predators? Or that you crush such behavior with unyielding fury?