To hear Michael Simons MED 84 tell it, the sexual misconduct case against him which ended in Simonss removal from his posts as chief of cardiology at the Yale School of Medicine and director of the Yale Cardiovascular Research Center (YCVRC) exhibited a lynch mob mentality. But numerous faculty and administrators interviewed disagreed with Simonss characterization.

PROFOUNDLY UNFAIR?

The faculty felt Simons original penalty was not adequate, saidprofessor of immunobiology at the School of Medicine and chair of the Womens Faculty Forum Paula Kavathas, referring to Provost Benjamin Polaks decision to turn a permanent removal from the helm of the cardiology department, recommended by the University-Wide Committee on Sexual Misconduct, into an 18-month suspension. There was no lynching involved.

Simons was accused of sexual harassment and retaliation in 2013, after School of Medicine researchers Annarita Di Lorenzo and Frank Giordano complained that Simons had made unwanted advances towards Di Lorenzo, and then, in retaliation, prevented Di Lorenzos husband Giordano from being promoted.

Simons, who refused an interview with the News because he felt he had already expressed in the Yale Alumni Magazine his perception of his treatment, acknowledged an error in judgment in his sexual conduct in an email to the Alumni Magazine. But he said that the details of a New York Times article on the case, which included claims that Simons had removed Giordanos name from a grant thus preventing him from receiving credit for the work were wrong.

In an email to the News, he added that coverage from the New York Times was one-sided, as no one at the Yale Cardiovascular Research Center had been interviewed, and thus their side of the story in defense of Simons has been unheard. Members of the YCVRC, including Medical School Cardiology Professor Martin Schwarz and Vice Chairman of Pharmacology William Sessa, declined the News requests for comment.

Professor of Cardiology and Cellular and Molecular Physiology Anne Eichmann, who in the past has supported Simons, said she could not comment directly on whether Giordano was rightfully denied promotion. However, she suggested that looking at [Giordanos] publication records and grant records is an objective way to assess promotion.

Eichmann also stressed that the weakening of Simons original punishment needs to be put into context, noting that Simons was brought in to create a basic science program with which, she added, he has done a great job and the University wants to protect that program. She added that Simons created a wonderful working environment in the basic science department, that his hiring of women was second to none, with almost equal numbers of men and women faculty in the YCVRC, and that the Times coverage of the case was completely skewed.

The whole [Times] article was biased in favor of the victim, she said.

While Dean of the School of Medicine Robert Alpern refused to comment directly on the case because of confidentiality reasons, he said that the way Simons case was dealt with is no different to how anyone elses case would have been handled.

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Simons calls treatment unfair, but faculty disagree