The Board of Directors Failed Me -Sexual Harassment at Farm Animal Rights Movement (Alex Hershaft)
By: Ethan Eldreth
Tags: Nonprofit, Board Of Directors, Workplace Culture, Sexual Harassment, Animal Rights

After sending this email, I was extremely anxious and nervous because I knew it would eventually get to Alex. The emails I did receive back, though not from all Board members, were supportive. I also scheduled a phone call with three of the four Board members the following Sunday to discuss. In the phone call, I encouraged them to hire an independent investigator, as I had asked for in the email. There had been some reluctance since they did not want it to be public. I believe there was a small effort for the Board to handle it themselves and investigate. However, I had suggested the best course was actually an independent investigator who would do a more comprehensive investigation that included current and past employees to better understand the scope of the problems to make informed decisions. I had hoped it would also be able to show that this wasn’t just a one-time instance and instead a pattern of misconduct by the most powerful person at FARM, Alex Hershaft. I also thought it would be best for them to protect themselves, which I did tell them and had told them for the past two years.

After that meeting, it was decided that a private independent investigation would go forward. I was encouraged by this at the time but also extremely nervous. I didn’t know the full process and of what would come of it all, but I did want to be as helpful as I could. I truly did not want this to happen to anyone else.

Eventually, I heard that a firm was to be hired and the investigation would take place. I had called to get a few more details and was given the investigator’s number so that I could call and ask questions about the process. I also let the investigator and the Board know that I feared retribution for bringing these issues to the Board’s attention and asked if my job was in jeopardy. I felt this way since I had experienced how Alex pushed employees out before who had spoken up. I also knew that he would be extremely upset about all this. As for the Board response, they suggested that they were trying to reach a conclusion that was fair for all parties involved. The investigator did tell me retribution for this type of thing was illegal and at one point the Board did suggest that Alex had told them he had no plans to fire me. As far as the Board’s response, I don’t recall anything specific, though I do know they were against any retaliation. The issue was not that I was worried about them, but more so Alex.

I also found out that Alex had actually emailed all the staff except for me that I had filed a complaint against him with the Board and that someone would be calling each of them to ask questions. I was horrified and upset that this happened but honestly not surprised. To my knowledge, the Board had never asked Alex not to communicate with the staff about the complaint or the investigation, just not to communicate with me.

The next day, the Board officially told the staff, without naming me, and let them all know that their jobs would not be impacted, and that it was all in the best interest of FARM. I let the investigator and the Board know that I had been informed that Alex had emailed the staff. The only thing that I heard was that it was terrible and they wished it hadn’t happened. I was not informed if Alex was reprimanded for doing so or if the people who received the email got reassurance that nothing would happen if they spoke honestly with the investigator. I figured the current staff, being very small, would feel pressured to not talk honestly about Alex if they had experienced anything like I had. Also, to my knowledge, at that time, neither I nor anyone on the staff was informed who would see the final report, even though I had asked multiple times.

The Board meeting had been set for July 7, 2020, which would discuss the report and moving forward. I found out two days later that, after I emailed the Board and investigators on the 7th, the Board meeting was actually postponed till July 21, 2020.

One of the first concerns I ran into was just how disorganized and naive the Board was and how little they knew. I asked the investigator who would get the report who controls who is interviewed and who set the parameters on how long each interview was and how many there would be. I was informed that it was entirely up to the Board, since they were the ones paying the bill. The investigator could suggest things, like additional people to interview, but it all had to be approved. I was told I would be interviewed for 45 to 60 minutes (as would all current full-time staff), while part-time staff would have 15 to 30 minutes. As for who would get the report, the investigator told me that they would only send it to the Board liaison and that it would be password-protected and that password would, again, only be sent to that one Board member. After that, it was up to the Board to decide who would see it.

Eventually, the investigation did come to a conclusion, though I felt my concerns were not addressed. To my knowledge, only three or four additional people who were former employees were added to the list. I do not know who these people are, and I’m unsure if Alex was ever told who they were. I had suggested a few people, but also suggested a wider scope in general. The people I had suggested were just ones whom I had told at the time when it happened or witnessed things with me or on their own and told me. I do not know if any of the people I suggested were interviewed or if Alex was able to suggest anyone. At some points in FARM history, while I was there, there were about 25 to 30 staff members, and when the investigation happened, there were only three full-time employees and four part-time employees. I was hopeful that the investigation would have been wider in scope to include a larger number of past staff experiences with Alex.

In conclusion, I was told a report had been submitted to the Board on July 17, 2020, one month after my initial complaint. I emailed to ask for updates and was sent the recommendations that the investigator had attached to the report. I was asked to keep these recommendations confidential. I can say that they really were not much aside from what a healthy organization should already have set up. I was shocked that none of the recommendations had anything to do specifically with repercussions to Alex for his misconduct. Instead, they focused generally on policies that they felt FARM was missing.

With this news, I emailed the Board requesting what actually had been done with the recommendations and if they had future plans. We set up a time to talk and I was filled in that some of the recommendations had been adopted and that they had plans to do more. I was glad these steps were being taken, though I felt they were not enough and that they had simply taken too long. I spoke to the Board members for an hour and they had to go, so I requested we set up another time to talk. It was expressed that finding a time to talk that week was challenging and email was better. After that I sent the following email: