Last year, a confidential report was leaked that revealed that University of California, Berkeley had conducted an investigation into one of its prominent astronomy researchers and found that he had repeatedly engaged in sexual harassment. The report, however, was kept so confidential that the other faculty in his own department didn't even know about it. After it leaked, they called on him to resign, which he did.
That level of secrecy has now drawn the attention of Congresswoman Jackie Speier (D-Calif.). Speier announced today that she would be seeking legislation that would compel universities to make other universities aware of the results of any investigations into violations of federal sexual harassment standards. To bolster her case, she also released a second confidential university report that details how a different astronomer engaged in flagrant sexual harassment, yet continued a successful career at a different university.
University investigations into faculty misconduct (sexual or otherwise) are typically kept confidential because even unfounded allegations can have severe consequences on an academic career. In both of these cases, however, the universities (Berkeley and the University of Arizona) kept the results of the investigation confidential even after the allegations had been substantiated during the investigation.
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