• 11
  • March
    2011

Many people agree that giving second chances is a good thing. We might expect a boss to forgive someone who overslept for a big meeting or excuse of colleague who turned a project in late. But there are also times when second chances do not seem appropriate. Sexual harassment is one topic that comes to mind.

One college is Southern California is receiving criticism for recently rehiring an individual who was the target of a sexual harassment lawsuit in 1999. At the time of the 1999 lawsuit, Thomas was a professor at a Jesuit seminary. He and two other priests were named in a sexual harassment lawsuit which made its way to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The suit was eventually settled out of court, though there was no formal acknowledgement of anyone's mistakes.

The case made national news and was featured on "60 Minutes," but Thomas did not appear to suffer any repercussions from his actions. After the lawsuit, the man who was sexually harassed withdrew from the seminary, while Thomas continued holding prominent positions within the Jesuit university system.

Recently, Thomas was hired as a university chaplain. During the 70s, Thomas was a dean at the university, and he is known for bringing "grace and blessings" to alumni functions.

Yet the university seems to be ignoring the fact that Thomas's career now has a scarlet letter. Individuals at the university suggest that hiring Thomas as a chaplain is a safe move because they state that he will not be working directly with students. One vice president at the university defended the university's position saying, "I can't speak to those who made the hiring decisions. I do know that the university was aware of the allegations that were asserted against [Thomas] 11 years ago or more... He denied the allegations against him and the civil case was settled."

Unfortunately, the reality with many sexual predators is that they tend to be repeat offenders. In addition, people who are placed in positions of authority may abuse their power, creating a hostile work environment for others who work at the university and an unsafe atmosphere for students.

Source: The Hawk, "Part-time chaplain & former dean at St. Joe's defendant in '99 sexual harassment suit," Sam Koch, 5 March 2011