Third Party Investigation

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[Huldah]

"Thus Lynn and Jim, as members of the current Board of Trustees, and on behalf of the other members of the BOT declined my offer to collaboratively select an investigator that would owe both sides fair representation and my request to have the findings made public."

Well, who'd have seen that coming?

Sarcasm aside, this is no different than what we were all expecting. And yet, knowing how many people were praying for transparency and a just outcome, I still had a tiny bit of hope that Evergreen would come through and pleasantly surprise us all.

[GodisFaithful]

Media? I'm just guessing.

Bill Hybels was exonerated by an "independent" investigation, but the rest of the story was told in the Chicago Tribune.

[UffDa]

Well, this thread took a weird turn but I thought this article was relevant to the concept of "independent investigations."

https://religionnews.com/2015/10/16/are-abuse-survivors-best-served-when-institutions-investigate-themselves/

From article:  "This is often accomplished by announcing that the institution will launch an “independent” investigation. The organization proceeds to hire a private investigative group or law firm to investigate the matter with the hope that this process will calm everyone down and eventually turn off the spotlight. Because the motivation for this process can be based upon institutional self-preservation, many investigations labeled as “independent” are nothing more than “internal” investigations in disguise. An internal investigation allows the institution being investigated to stay in the driver’s seat, while an independent investigation requires that they get into the backseat with everyone else."

 "Disguising an internal investigation as independent ultimately exploits and hurts abuse survivors who are told they are engaging in a particular type of process only to learn when it’s too late that they have unwittingly participated in something that will be used to protect the institution."

So let's look at the 4 elements identified in the article and ask who, in the case of Evergreen, is in the driver's seat.  It's Evergreen, in each aspect.  NOT an independent investigation.

Control of the investigator:
Control of the process:
Control of the findings:
Control of the final report:

Excellent article that really spells out the difference between an internal vs 3rd party investigation

[Rebel in a Good Way]

Huldah, the above link you provided also had other law professionals commenting along the same lines.  Many seemed to think it was unethical for the attorney to allow the investigation to be called "independent" as the attorney should understand that he was providing a specific service for the church board.

[Rebel in a Good Way]

I posted this in another thread because that is where GodTrumpsAll made claims about Joan Harris that as far as I can tell cannot be substantiated.  However, it seems appropriate to include here since we have been discussing the use of the word "independent."

Joan Harris is not listed anywhere on U of M Law School's website, nor is being a professor listed on her own resume.  And I do not see anywhere that she teaches ethics.

https://www.law.umn.edu/our-faculty

https://ogletree.com/people/joan-e-h-harris

Also, looking at her current position, it emphasizes that she works on the MANAGEMENT side of employment.

On Scout's FB page, someone said there is nothing wrong with an employer using an attorney to investigate one of their employees and making a decision based on that.  A comment was made that it would be less confusing if ECC had just said that from the beginning, rather than talking about transparency, seeking truth, etc.  I agree.  This is an internal employment investigation and not an independent third party investigation. 


These are the speeches listed on her resume, the first one is particularly interesting.  And the second seems relevant since the allegations were first made on social media.

Ogletree Deakins Briefing - ''Beer, Wine, and Spirits, Part II: Strategies for Reducing Risk When Dealing with Sensitive, Uncomfortable, and Awkward Situations with Employees'' - Stillwater - July 10, 2017
National Employment Law Council Annual Conference -

National Employment Law Council Annual Conference - ''Impact of Blogs/Personal Websites in the Workplace/Internal Investigations'' - Atlanta - May 2008

[UffDa]

Joan E Harris is an Adjunct Professor for the University of St. Thomas
https://www.stthomas.edu/law/facultystaff/a-z-index/joan-harris.html

[Rebel in a Good Way]

Thanks again for that clarification.  I notice they pride themselves on being a dedicated leader in ethics.