"There were something like eight or nine law firms that have fought against us on their behalf over the years. There were very intentional choices to try to bury, mislead and discredit the story and us as survivors, and this report does nothing to address any of those choices."
"Hadden pleaded guilty in state court in 2016 to abusing two women, but under former Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance, he was able to avoid jail time. It wasn't until 2023, when Hadden was convicted of sex crimes in federal court, that he was sentenced to 20 years in prison, more than a decade after Hoechstetter first came forward."
Robert Hadden, a gynecologist, committed sexual assaults against numerous women over years while employed at Columbia University and NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. Survivors began reporting allegations over 14 years ago but faced institutional resistance and legal obstruction. Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian employed multiple law firms to fight survivors' claims and deny justice. Hadden pleaded guilty in 2016 but avoided jail time under former Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance. He was finally convicted in federal court in 2023 and sentenced to 20 years in prison. The institutions have settled claims from approximately 1,000 women for $1 billion. A recently released institutional report commissioned by Columbia and NewYork-Presbyterian is criticized by survivors as inadequate, arriving too late, and failing to address years of deliberate obstruction and discrediting tactics.
#sexual-assault-accountability #institutional-failure-and-cover-up #survivor-justice #columbia-university-misconduct #criminal-justice-reform
Read at Gothamist
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