Nearly five months after allegations of inappropriate conduct rocked New York Public Radio, an investigation by the law firm Proskauer Rose found no evidence of systemic discrimination at the organization.
In the 10-page report released Tuesday, investigators found:
• "offensive and at times discriminatorily harassing conduct in violation of NYPR policies by a small number of individuals, including hosts of shows and administrative staff."
• bullying behavior that was "known and tolerated in certain circumstances for months or even years before serious corrective actions were taken."
• "a systemic problem in that knowledge of sexually harassing conduct often was not conveyed to human resources or senior management until months or years after the events."
The Board set the scope for the investigation and said that "management had no input."
Investigators talked to 36 people including current and former employees. However, several current and former staffers who witnessed or experienced harassment said they were not contacted.
The report did not provide a narrative detailing the complaints or describing problematic behaviors in detail. The report also did not describe how complaints were handled.
Proskauer’s lawyers write that senior management was responsive, when notified of problems: “significant and prompt disciplinary action was taken in most cases where violations were found.” That finding is partly contradicted by WNYC News’ own reporting. Several sources told WNYC News they reported harassment or inappropriate behavior at the most senior levels of the company, and knew of no response.
Some employees after reviewing the findings said they found it superficial and "lacking." Another said "there is no accountability" and that the report appeared to conclude that problems at the station became known only because of the MeToo moment and not long-standing issues.
Among the report’s recommendations:
• Adopting a written protocol for HR investigations. There is currently no manual for looking into complaints
• Regular reporting to the NYPR board about complaints of discrimination and bullying
• Expanding the anti-harassment policy to prohibit inappropriate conduct against third parties, such as guests.
New York Magazine’s "The Cut" published allegations of harassment against the former host of The Takeaway, John Hockenberry, in early December. That article and reporting from WNYC News described complaints of sexual harassment as well as instances of bullying of his three co-hosts, all of whom were women of color.
Days later, longtime hosts Leonard Lopate and Jonathan Schwartz were suspended for what the station described as “inappropriate conduct.” The men were fired two weeks later. WNYC News reported that employees had raised concerns about the two hosts for years.
The Board of Trustees of New York Public Radio commissioned the investigation from Proskauer Rose in December, paying for it through the organization's general funds.
Along with the report, the Board released a letter voicing "full support" for President and CEO Laura Walker. Walker penned her own statement accepting responsibility and vowing to do everything in her power not to let it happen again.
She said the organization has already adopted some of Proskauer’s recommendations, and a broad transformation of workplace culture is underway.
Staff members have had new sexual harassment training, and managers are now required to report complaints to HR. Eight employee-led committees are working on a range of areas, including studying pay equity, increasing diversity, and promoting transparency.
“As I’ve said, this happened on my watch, and I accept responsibility,” Walker said in the statement. “I offer my deep apology to those affected and commit to doing everything in my power not to let it happen again.”
UPDATE: An earlier version of this story included a tweet from Kristen Meinzer, a former producer at WNYC’s The Takeaway, in which she said she was never contacted by investigators. She later updated her comment as follows:
CORRECTION: @ilyamarritz kindly did some digging into this and found out that a @Proskauer investigator did indeed reach out to me during their investigation of #WNYC, though I did not ever see or hear a message from them. https://t.co/Hgi3zVBuYU
— Kristen Meinzer (@kristenmeinzer) April 25, 2018
Investigation from Proskauer Rose, LLP by James Ramsay on Scribd