UC Berkeley releases report on Geoffrey Marcy sexual harassment investigation

Nature : On 17 December the University of California, Berkeley, released a report about its investigation of astronomer Geoffrey Marcy following a series of sexual harassment complaints. The report was completed in June 2015 but was not disclosed publicly until a leaked version appeared on BuzzFeed News in October. The official release of the report only followed after several publications, including Nature, filed public records requests. The report details four formal complaints dating back to April 2011 but describes incidents spanning more than 10 years and concludes that Marcy violated Berkeley’s rules against sexual harassment. As a result of the investigation, Marcy was provided with “an alternative to proceeding with formal disciplinary action,” which when revealed by BuzzFeed News led to a backlash from Berkeley students and faculty and from the larger scientific community. Marcy resigned shortly thereafter.