This week, three women filed a lawsuit against Harvard, claiming the university failed to protect them from a renowned anthropology scholar who allegedly sexually harassed them, then threatened to destroy their careers if they came forward. One of the accusers claims that Harvard also obtained her psychotherapy records without her consent and handed them to the professor, who used them to “gaslight” her.
On Thursday, Harvard issued a statement about the women’s harassment claims against professor John Comaroff and the university’s investigation of them. But the Ivy League school’s remarks centered on the disturbing accusations about the woman’s medical records, which were obtained by Harvard’s Office for Dispute Resolution (ODR) after she filed a complaint about Comaroff’s alleged harassment and unwanted advances.
The university even appeared to shift blame to the woman’s therapist, saying, “HIPAA privacy obligations apply to medical care providers, not the ODR” and “ODR receives information from that care provider only with the party’s consent. We scrupulously follow this practice.”
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