Martin Philbert - The provost with 20+ allegations of sexual misconduct
Not a good look for our university, he is now suspended during the investigation. lhttps://amp.freep.com/amp/4656749002?__twitter_impression=true
February 13th, 2020 at 8:36 PM ^
I predict this thread will be along the lines of the comments on an Mlive article
February 13th, 2020 at 9:33 PM ^
This won't even come close to the comments under the Saline MLive articles.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:06 PM ^
You can only win the internet by triggering those you disagree with politically.
February 14th, 2020 at 12:00 AM ^
But Vermin Supreme says I'll get a pony.
February 14th, 2020 at 11:28 AM ^
Where's a comment by the Pony Conqueror?
February 13th, 2020 at 11:20 PM ^
I made the mistake of reading those comments. I will never unsee
February 13th, 2020 at 8:42 PM ^
A_Maized is an OSU troll. Look at his posting history. Virtually every comment he's made has either been praising OSU or concern trolling UM.
February 14th, 2020 at 10:10 AM ^
We needed some righteousness from the folks that brought us Jim Jordan
February 13th, 2020 at 8:47 PM ^
Troll or not, it's a worrisome situation and demands a lot of questions. Just because you don't like who posted it doesn't invalidate it. It's like blaming a whistleblower, ahem.
February 13th, 2020 at 8:53 PM ^
It's extremely worrisome and deserves attention. I'm just noting the rather shameful motive of the OP.
February 13th, 2020 at 9:05 PM ^
You should heed your own words.
As far as this is concerned. It is interesting. I wonder what the specific allegations are and why. If someone is a predator they should be held accountable. Innocent until proven guilty is still important to remember. Imagine in the year 2000 being told some of the things that were going on in your workplace would be considered crimes in 2020. It's pretty incredible what has changed in our society.
February 13th, 2020 at 9:42 PM ^
What does "predator" mean to you? 20+ allegations of sexual harassment seems like a fairly clear pattern of making his employees/co-workers feel uncomfortable at least. And most of the laws & regulations that govern workplace harassment were on the books in 2000 too, so it's not especially hard to imagine that they would still be considered crimes today. Most of what's changed is societal pressure to actually hold people accountable for behavior that thankfully more and more people in power are willing to acknowledge is shitty and exploitative even if it's not illegal.
February 14th, 2020 at 8:34 AM ^
Predator to me means, guilty of sexual crime involving another individual.
It is hard to imagine, a lot of people truly didn't care about things that now they do. Holding people accountable surely was an issue, you are correct, but that is not the bigger picture to me.
February 14th, 2020 at 2:51 PM ^
I am in no way condoning his actions but
20 instances isn't even one time a year he made an inappropriate comment or whatever.
If it was comments then slap him on the wrist and maybe let him go. If it was physical then send him up the river.
But emphasizing 20 instances loses a little steam when you spread then out over 25 years.
February 14th, 2020 at 8:57 AM ^
wow, had to rewrite this a bunch of times to not be a raving lunatic. Bottom line is.. this is a really bad take. And you should be ashamed that you think all the stuff that is getting prosecuted today should be OK because some people thought it was OK 20 years ago.
February 14th, 2020 at 9:42 AM ^
You sound triggered. Maybe you shouldn't be upset that some people have different opinions than you. Sad!
For the record, I am not ashamed of my opinion, nor should you be of yours. We have different opinions, likely VERY different backgrounds and experiences, which shape the way we feel. Have a better than great weekend, my dude.
February 14th, 2020 at 10:05 AM ^
Nah your lack of shame is the exact problem. You should be ashamed of your ignorance and your unwillingness to confront it.
February 14th, 2020 at 10:32 AM ^
2000
colleague A - 40 year old male says to colleague B - 40 year old female "your new haircut looks nice" Colleague B replies "thank you" both go on with their day
2020
colleague A - 40 year old male says to colleague B - 40 year old female " your new haircut looks nice" Colleague B replies "excuse me, that is sexual harassment" the boss is notified and colleague A is fired and his life is turned upside down. colleague A is fired because.... A. he should be? or B. Society has lost their mind and we need to be WOKE?
I actually witnessed similar circumstances to this in the distant past and recent past with co workers. Both times Colleague A was not someone who meant anything other than being complimentary to their co worker.
I am not saying that Sexual harassment and assault should be ok, what I am saying is, as a society we have changed and if you are a male, ya better look the fuck out and not even be nice to certain people.
February 14th, 2020 at 11:14 AM ^
was not someone who meant anything other than being complimentary to their co worker.
- That's why work is not for making friends -- it's for work.
- I keep 95% of my daily dialogue focused on work.
- I don't compliment people on clothing or appearance.
- I don't talk about weekends
- I don't mention family life
- I've learned not to say bless you when someone sneezes or hold doors open for assigned at birth females anymore -- these were a huge lesson learned during client work in the Bay Area last year.
It sucks but it's much easier that way to steer the freighter through the selective outrage fog bank these days.
February 14th, 2020 at 11:29 AM ^
I mean all of the stuff you put is my point.
I agree about the whole work and friends thing, however, the firm I work for actually encourages employees to be friends so.... that can be an issue.
We are so WOKE as a society that people have lost common sense.
I say God Bless you and I always hold the door for the ladies.
February 14th, 2020 at 12:28 PM ^
I mean all of the stuff you put is my point.
Yes, I'm on your side; I'm agreeing with you.
We are so WOKE as a society that people have lost common sense.
The definition of WOKE 10 years ago is not the definition of WOKE today.
February 14th, 2020 at 11:26 AM ^
Sexual harassment requires REPEATED or if not repeated particularly egregious conduct - a PATTERN of a "hostile workplace".
You did not witness someone get fired for saying "your new haircut looks nice" one time.
February 14th, 2020 at 11:32 AM ^
"particularly egregious conduct"
That is the issue my man. Who decides this. If our current culture and media are deciding this, we are in big trouble.
And actually yes I did.
February 14th, 2020 at 12:37 PM ^
Sexual harassment requires REPEATED or if not repeated particularly egregious conduct - a PATTERN of a "hostile workplace".
Not anymore
That was the definition 10 years ago. In addition such definitions back then also had language which said "unwanted attention" -- to which smartasses said if a pretty woman is harassing me and I like it then it's not harassment.
Contemporary HR policy these days typically does not account for "repeated patterns" -- it's one strike and you're out...
... unless you're a celebrity, athlete, or politician.
I only know because in my line of work, I've audited a lot of governance policy and I come across HR docs when I'm looking for how an organization handles termination of employees from an information security perspective.
February 14th, 2020 at 9:44 AM ^
Yea, pretty incredible that victims are getting braver and now are choosing to fight back instead of suffering in silence while shitheads go unpunished. If only you could go back to 2000 where it was ok to sexually harass people at work, things would be good again.
February 14th, 2020 at 11:46 AM ^
It's only harassment if you are ugly..and that is a fact
February 14th, 2020 at 7:38 AM ^
Whistleblowers get fired and blamed. What’s your point?
February 13th, 2020 at 8:48 PM ^
Perhaps A-maized should worry about his real team, that Ryan Day let these guys be a part of his football team all season!
February 13th, 2020 at 9:08 PM ^
.....but didn't the incident happen on Feb. 4th, which is after the season???
February 13th, 2020 at 9:31 PM ^
Doesn’t matter
February 13th, 2020 at 10:29 PM ^
Joke
————->
Your Head
February 14th, 2020 at 11:19 AM ^
Is it a joke?
An OSU poster said this week in the thread about the 2 football players accused of rape and kidnapping, and I quote and the emphasis is mine, "To be fair, neither of the accused are impact players."
February 13th, 2020 at 8:54 PM ^
Stuff like this sucks when it happens at MSU or OSU, and it sucks at Michigan too.
hopefully they get to the bottom of it and fire everyone who acted inappropriately.
February 14th, 2020 at 7:59 AM ^
That's why I get pissed when we use victims of sexual assault as pawns to score points against the other teams. Sure, some universities some have dealt poorly with issues, but no one wants this on their campus. Anyone who uses the horror of sexual assault to feel superior to another person/place is certainly not part of the solution.
February 13th, 2020 at 9:00 PM ^
Not a good look for A-maized Buckeyes, really bad!
February 13th, 2020 at 9:01 PM ^
You are a piece of shit troll. Once the allegations (three of them) became known to those who could actually do something about it, he was immediately placed on leave.
Has been on leave for at least a month. The other 17 of the 20 allegations were not even made until AFTER HE WAS PLACED ON LEAVE.
Michigan Difference. They found out about the alleged poor behavior, and reacted quickly and properly.
OSU, PSU or MSU would have given this guy a raise and told the DA to ignore any and all accusations. Glass houses you fucking useless troll. That being said, if the allegations are true, he should punished to the fullest extent of the law. Good to see him removed until it is resolved (unlike what MSU, OSU and PSU would do).
I am proud of Michigan here. There was a bit of unsubstantiated smoke, that became real smoke, and they acted immediately. Can’t fault the university for not acting on information they didn’t know about .. since most of the alleged allegations did not exist until after they removed him.
February 13th, 2020 at 9:55 PM ^
You sound like you need anger management and a boost in reading comprehension. The university defended a lawsuit (and settled) that was based in part on his inappropriate conduct with a female researcher in his lab.
Its amazing to me that certain clowns on here attempt to blame the messenger, call me a troll because I’m critical of Harbaugh, and jump to talk about rape at OSU all while refusing to acknowledge this is a real issue and the concern should be for the victims. If your world revolves around sports so much that your first response is anything other than concern for the victims, you may need to spend some time reflecting on why that is.
February 13th, 2020 at 10:00 PM ^
Where’s your post on Hineygate or Elevenwarriors with your same concern about the sexual misconduct happening at OSU?? I’ll wait for your links........
February 13th, 2020 at 11:33 PM ^
If anyone needs reading comprehension skills boosted it’s you bud. Both with the article and what it states, as well as with what I typed.
The lawsuit was brought by a male researcher in his lab who thought he was wrongfully terminated and used the provosts consensual relationship (pinching each other’s butts in the hallway was the gist of the entire relationship apparently) with a female researcher as part of his lawsuit. He claimed the provost “favored her” and fired him, despite evidence provided showing the funding that kept the researcher employed ran out. Much of his case got tossed, but the University settled anyways. If you actually read the article you linked you’d know that. Other than that, he had a history of saying inappropriate things and hugging people (men and women) too much. He was also known for being very empathetic and caring and probably was a bit overboard with the empathy/hugging. All of this is clearly explained in the article you linked.
You’re painting a very different picture (OMG sex assault) than what the facts actually say. If there is any anger coming from me, it’s because you’re being facetious at best, and at worst, a dishonest POS trying to smear the University, despite the fact they acted more than appropriately here.
February 14th, 2020 at 10:25 AM ^
"the provosts consensual relationship (pinching each other’s butts in the hallway was the gist of the entire relationship apparently) with a female researcher"
You do get that consensual or not - that is completely and utterly unacceptable and grounds for termination... and certainly should prevent one from ever being considered for any higher administrative at the university.
The idea that "it was consensual" makes it acceptable is just completely wrong.
February 14th, 2020 at 11:55 AM ^
Maybe, maybe not. Apparently she pinched his butt first. So maybe the female researcher should be fired as well, but it sure ain’t sexual assault as the OP was alluding to.
Also, there are a number of cases of a prof marrying a grad researcher or post grad researcher. Not sure it’s grounds for termknatikn
February 13th, 2020 at 9:05 PM ^
Hopefully a-maized is posting his concerns on Hineygate or elevenwarriors about the rampant sexual misconduct on his own Buckeyes campus concerning his sports programs!
February 13th, 2020 at 9:19 PM ^
Are you seriously comparing sexual assault cases with rival schools?
Sexual assault is serious. The victims pay a heavy toll, sometimes for the rest of their lives.
Its disgusting that it happens at osu and msu, but its just as disgusting when it happens at Michigan.
You're better than that, act like it
February 13th, 2020 at 9:22 PM ^
The University is handling it. The OSU OP troll just brought it up to troll, F him!
February 13th, 2020 at 11:27 PM ^
This board is devolving into the same bs that you would expect to see on rcmb or 11W. Good to see such concern for those impacted ?. Thankfully it’s the vocal minority of our fan base. Read the articles about why some victims didn’t come forward earlier and tell me you don’t think we have ANY room to improve. Stick your head in the sand just like MSU and OSU did. We are supposed to be better
February 13th, 2020 at 11:34 PM ^
Maybe if you cry more about how we disagree with your opinions and prefer to stick to the facts, it’ll help?
February 13th, 2020 at 10:26 PM ^
Sexual misconduct <> sexual assault.
Aside from a possible relationship with another employee, I don’t recall reading anything about unwanted contact.
Sounds like he is a “touchy” person (men and women).
i understand if he makes people uncomfortable with his words and/or touching. But let’s not label him a “sex offender” just yet.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:33 PM ^
Well said, there is absolutely a difference between physical assault and sexual misconduct. With either, this isn’t a good look but absolutely misconduct is the lesser evil. To me, the university paid to settle a suit before promoting him. That there are now 20 allegations clearly shows (to me) the the oversight has to improve. 20 allegations don’t happen in a vacuum. At that point it either was known and not addressed or it should have been known, that’s how governance works.
February 13th, 2020 at 11:39 PM ^
Again, how can you have better oversight prior to the allegations when at least 85% of the allegations were unknown to everyone, even the “overseers” until after he was put on leave?
February 14th, 2020 at 6:52 AM ^
I think that it is fair to ask what could be done to make sure that, in the future, those 17 complaintants would have come forward before he was placed on leave.