‘They Knew And They Let It Happen To Kids

Catholic Sexual Abuse

On his first day on the job in July 2001, Globe editor Martin Baron stopped by the desk of Eileen McNamara, a Pulitzer Prize-winning columnist. A week earlier, on July 29, 2001, McNamara had published a column about the Boston Archdiocese’s silence on three Catholic priests accused of sexually abusing children. One line, in particular, had irked Baron. McNamara had wondered whether an accused priest’s superiors had known about his crimes. Court documents were sealed. “The public,” she concluded, “has no way of knowing.”

McNamara recalls Baron standing over her desk: “Why don’t we find out,” he said.

Spotlight’s investigation of sexual abuse in the Catholic Church did not begin with a tip or newly obtained document, as so many investigations do. Instead, it started when a new

Riverside County pays $900,000 to settle child sex abuse lawsuit against sheriff’s investigator

Police Misconduct

Riverside County paid $900,000 to settle a lawsuit against the county and former sheriff Stan Sniff brought by three men and a woman who allege they were molested as children by a sheriff’s investigator who took his own life 12 years ago.

The lawsuit accused Sniff, who left office in early 2019 after losing a re-election bid to current Sheriff Chad Bianco, of a “calculated and conscientious” cover-up of Kevin Duffy’s “depraved behavior.” Duffy was never charged with a crime, but Sniff allowed Duffy to go free though investigators wanted to arrest him, the lawsuit filed in federal court alleged.

Reached via email, Sniff declined to comment. County spokesperson Brooke Federico said in an email that the settlement was finalized in July. She declined further comment.

Officism; a New Type of Workplace Discrimination

Discrimination

With the coronavirus Delta variant summer surge delaying many return-to-office plans, a new source of conflict could erupt between workers who have returned to the office and those continuing to work remotely. The conflict could disrupt any chance of a smooth transition to a hybrid workplace.

Perceptyx, a leading employee listening company, found evidence through its work with Fortune 500 customers and a panel research survey of more than 1,000 working Americans, that officism – defined as negative attitudes toward employees who continue to work remotely instead of returning to the office – is clearly present in today’s workforce. The news for remote workers gets worse. Managers, who are directors or above, exhibit the highest levels of officism compared to individual contributors. Those managers are the same people who are designing hybrid work plans while the Delta variant of COVID-19 still surges around the world.

Medical Device Sales Representatives Play a Role in Patient Injuries, Investigation Reveals

Hernia Mesh

A recent Kaiser Health News investigation, as reported by Modern Healthcare, demonstrates that medical device sales representatives for various products play a substantial role in patient injuries. Whether the medical device at issue is for a spinal procedure, a hip replacement procedure, or a hernia mesh procedure, a sales representative is likely standing in the operating room.

Older Workers Sue Eli Lilly for Age Discrimination

Discrimination

In a lawsuit filed in federal court, two midcareer workers allege drugmaker Eli Lilly discriminated against older job applicants in favor of hiring early career professionals and millennials instead. The litigation could become a nationwide class action lawsuit, which would open eligibility to many older applicants who were rejected in recent years.
According to the suit filed in a federal court in Indianapolis, newly appointed CEO David Ricks told Eli Lilly staffers in a company-wide conference call in April 2017 that he wanted workers who are millennials to be 40 percent of the company’s overall sales force by 2020. In some cases, the millennial hiring quota was later raised to 100 percent if lower thresholds were not being met, the lawsuit alleges.

“Eli Lilly believes younger applicants are better suited to be employed in a sales representative role,” the lawsuit says. “Because sales representative roles are primarily client-facing roles whereby sales representatives regularly interact with physicians who prescribe Eli Lilly products to their patients, Eli Lilly prefers that sales representatives to have a youthful appearance.”