A former therapist of the victim of an alleged 2014 sexual assault involving University of Oregon basketball players announced her resignation on Sunday.
In an open letter to UO President Michael Schill, Jennifer Morlok stated she is leaving because she “can no longer manage the emotional strain and professional toll I have paid for speaking the truth.”
After the alleged assault on Jane Doe in 2014, Morlok complained that her director, Shelly Kerr, had given Doe’s confidential records to UO attorneys. This lead to allegations of misconduct at the University Counseling and Testing Center. Morlok and her former colleague Karen Stokes filed a tort claim against UO in August claiming they were retaliated against for withholding the records.
“I am no longer willing to be treated as though I am an enemy of the very counseling services I enjoyed providing to students,” Morlok said in her letter. “I am disheartened that, because of the ill treatment I have endured after speaking up regarding confidential records being disclosed unethically by the Director of the UCTC […] I am forced to resign.”
After the whistleblowing incident, Morlok claims she was removed as a staff therapist, but maintained the title of Case Manager/Senior Staff Therapist and External Resource Coordinator at the UCTC. She resigned from that position Sunday.
A former version of this article stated that Morlok had refused to give up Doe’s records to UO lawyers, and that she had definitively been removed as a staff therapist. Morlok simply reported Shelly Kerr’s giving up of records to UO lawyers, and she claimed she was removed.
“Jane Doe’s” former therapist resigns, citing retaliation by UO
Noah McGraw
November 1, 2015
0
More to Discover