Sexual harassment and public shaming in the academy

This post authored by Bill Gardner first ran on the The Incidental Economist on June 28, 2016.  Is it ever okay to publicly shame someone on the internet? There are many cases where people have been persecuted online, and suffered severe consequences, based on accusations that are either trivial or false. But there may also be cases where public humiliation is merited, indeed, it may be the only way to address a grievous wrong. A letter accusing a prominent professor of sexual harassment is an important test case. Thomas Pogge is the Leitner Professor of Philosophy and Professor of Political Science at Yale. Pogge has been accused of serial sexual harassment in an Open Letter signed by scores of his academic colleagues: Pogge has engaged in a long-term pattern of discriminatory conduct, including unwanted sexual advances, quid pro quo offers of letters of recommendation and other perks, employment retaliation in response to charges of sexual misconduct, and sexual assault. [There are also] affidavits from former colleagues at Columbia University, who attest that Pogge was accused of sexual harassment by a student in his department, and disciplined for this. Workplace sexual harassment is a serious form of wrongdoing, but it’s very common. So what makes this case news? It may be the identity of the accused. Pogge is an internationally famous political philosopher. He is an egalitarian, best known for having extended the work of his teacher, John Rawls, to i...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Sexual Harassment Source Type: blogs