CONTENT WARNING: In support of trauma-informed communications, please be aware that this message contains topics that may be activating for survivors of gender violence. The Confidential Advocacy Program can be reached 24/7 by calling 833-495-2277. Additional resources for OHSU members are available here.
This message was shared with the OHSU Community Wednesday, March 10.
The behavior described in the lawsuit against former OHSU resident Dr. Jason Campbell -- and in reports and legal claims we’ve received since the OHSU AAEO investigation began -- are deeply distressing and inconsistent with the culture of safety and belonging we are working to establish. The survivors’ pain and the vicarious pain of the OHSU community and beyond is real.
We want to communicate as much as we can without compromising the integrity of the ongoing investigation. We recognize how frustrating it is to not know everything but to feel and hear so much. We know that clear and timely communication builds trust, and in retrospect, wish we would have communicated sooner. To this end, we believe the survivor/victim was sexually harassed by Dr. Jason Campbell, and we therefore moved to terminate him. He resigned his position before his final hearing. When contacted by the University of Florida for a reference check, we did indeed inform the institution that Dr. Jason Campbell violated OHSU’s sexual harassment policy.
Our objective is to prevent future incidences of sexual harassment at OHSU. We have received feedback that the process for reporting and expectations for reporting were suboptimal. While our investigative process was in compliance with applicable law and policy, we hear the feedback and plan to actively apply it to improve our processes with the overarching goal of prevention of sexual harassment.
We want to recognize that there are two distinct but related important elements to this situation, the lawsuit and our culture.
We acknowledge that the legal process does not reflect our emotional reaction or shared commitment to unite, heal, learn and take action. As we intentionally and thoughtfully move toward employing trauma-informed approaches, improve practices, policies and culture, we are asking to move away from discussing specifics of the case at hand not because they are not important but because we have witnessed the inadvertent harmful nature of the narrative surrounding this case. We know that everyone heals and processes differently, and we are asking for your help with changing the culture while uplifting the standard of community and belonging.
We do not want the legal process to distract from our work together as a community, and personal attacks only serve to divide us and hurt our efforts to have a respectful civil dialogue about the important issues our community must address. As a result, we will file a request asking the court to stop the plaintiff’s attorneys from attacking the personal character of OHSU members and engaging in other abusive tactics that further divide us and impede the legal process. We want to hear from you. We welcome the hard, uncomfortable and necessary conversations. We earnestly invite you to come as you are and to be respectful and constructive when you do.
We also believe the victim should be able to remain anonymous. We have not and will not ask the court to require the use of names. We want to empower more voices to be heard so that together we can be part of the solution. Again, we want to move toward a trauma-informed environment. We wish to avoid creating and contributing to an abusive and unsafe environment, especially as we are re-committing ourselves to meaningful change.
As Dr. Jacobs outlined in his message to the OHSU community, he will be working with Board of Directors Chair Monfries to conduct a comprehensive investigation to address workplace harassment, discrimination, racism and retaliation.
We understand that uncertainty breeds mistrust, and unfortunately this legal process will produce uncertainty. We have and will share what we can when we can. We are committed to a civil, respectful dialogue that leads to meaningful action that addresses the very real and serious issues of gender violence, power dynamics and discrimination, which have no place at OHSU.
We know we have a lot of work to do and trust to rebuild but we hope as a community we can come together to achieve this goal.
Sincerely,
Connie Seeley
Executive Vice President, Chief Administrative Officer and Chief of Staff