美国国家公共电台 NPR Red Cross Endorsed Top Official Despite Sexual Misconduct Claims, ProPublica Reports

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

We have news this morning about the American Red Cross. The charity organization acknowledges it forced out a senior executive amid allegations of sexual harassment¹ and worse in 2012. The dismissed executive was then hired by Save the Children after a favorable recommendation from the Red Cross. The Red Cross has confirmed all of this and apologized for that job recommendation in response to an investigation² by two ProPublica reporters, one of whom is Justin Elliott and is on the line.

Good morning.

JUSTIN ELLIOTT: Good morning.

INSKEEP: Who's the official, and what did he allegedly do?

ELLIOTT: So the official's name is Jerry Anderson, and he was a veteran Red Cross staffer. He had run two very large programs, the relief efforts after the Indian Ocean tsunami³ in the early 2000s, and then later the relief effort after the Haiti earthquake. Two young women who had worked at the Red Cross when they were in their early 20s later came forward to the management of the organization with allegations of in one case sexual harassment.

Another young staffer at the Red Cross attended a happy hour with him in Washington and then the next morning woke up in his apartment. She couldn't remember what happened, has a memory gap, went to the hospital and got a rape⁴ kit⁵ done. Jerry Anderson denies any sexual misconduct, but the Red Cross did bring in one of their lawyers to do an investigation, and they concluded that he had violated their policies and forced him out.

INSKEEP: Before we get to that, were the police ever brought in as the woman spread word of what she thought had happened?

ELLIOTT: She decided⁶ she didn't want to report it to police. And actually in both cases, the women initially⁷ didn't report what had happened, even to Red Cross management. They were very young, you know, in their first jobs out of college, and both feared that it would hurt their careers. About a year and a half later, the allegations did make their way to management, and that's when the investigation began.

INSKEEP: And we should mention these accusers are now giving their names. They're named in your story, Eliza Paul and Camille Herland. And you said that the Red Cross did push out the executive back in 2012. What makes this story different in your mind from so many other stories we've heard about in recent months?

ELLIOTT: We feel like we really got a window into how institutions have dealt with these cases. In this case, David Meltzer, who at the time was the head of the international division of the Red Cross, now is the general counsel of the organization, sent an email announcing Jerry Anderson's departure in which he praised him, said that Anderson himself was choosing to leave, thanked him for his leadership.

Meltzer also then gave a staff meeting in which he repeated those comments, which was very upsetting to some people in the audience. And then the Red Cross gave positive references to Anderson very shortly thereafter when Save the Children was considering hiring him. And Save the Children says that they were never told that this person had just been fired after an investigation found that he committed a serious misconduct.

INSKEEP: Were they just not told, or did they actually get a glowing reference about this gentleman?

ELLIOTT: Save the Children has told us that the Red Cross gave only positive references. So we don't know sort of all the details there, but the Red Cross has acknowledged that laudatory⁸ reference was given, and they have said that they are now taking unspecified disciplinary action. They say that shouldn't have happened.

INSKEEP: Are employers legally required when a former employee applies somewhere else to disclose everything that's in the personnel file?

ELLIOTT: Employers are generally not required to say much of anything about an employee who has left. We were told by experts in this area that a lot of large employers have adopted the policy of just giving sort of name and dates of employment. But we were also told by people that even if that's the policy, there are often sort of informal networks in which you do get more information about somebody you're considering hiring. The humanitarian⁹ industry sort of as a whole has actually been looking at these issues. There was a report recently issued by a task force in the industry identifying this question of information sharing about people who've committed serious misconduct and whether it should be done better and whether how it's been done in the past is actually working.

INSKEEP: Justin Elliott of ProPublica, who reported this story with Ariana Tobin. Thanks very much.

ELLIOTT: Thank you.

INSKEEP: Anderson responded to ProPublica through his attorney. He denies any sexual misconduct. You can read ProPublica's full report at propublica.org.

1 harassment   

n.骚扰，扰乱，烦恼，烦乱

参考例句：

• She often got telephone harassment at night these days.这些天她经常在夜晚受到电话骚扰。
• The company prohibits any form of harassment.公司禁止任何形式的骚扰行为。

2 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

3 tsunami   

n.海啸

参考例句：

• Powerful quake sparks tsunami warning in Japan.大地震触发了日本的海啸预警。
• Coastlines all around the Indian Ocean inundated by a huge tsunami.大海啸把印度洋沿岸地区都淹没了。

4 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

5 kit   

n.用具包，成套工具；随身携带物

参考例句：

• The kit consisted of about twenty cosmetic items.整套工具包括大约20种化妆用品。
• The captain wants to inspect your kit.船长想检查你的行装。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

8 laudatory   

adj.赞扬的

参考例句：

• Now,when Carrie heard Drouet's laudatory opinion of her dramatic ability,her body tingled with satisfaction.听到杜洛埃这么称道自己的演戏才能，她心满意足精神振奋。
• Her teaching evaluations are among the most laudatory in this department.她的教学评估在本系是居最受颂扬者之中。

9 humanitarian   

n.人道主义者，博爱者，基督凡人论者

参考例句：

• She has many humanitarian interests and contributes a lot to them.她拥有很多慈善事业，并作了很大的贡献。
• The British government has now suspended humanitarian aid to the area.英国政府现已暂停对这一地区的人道主义援助。