Timeline
2001 Dr. Robert M. Haddad, named head of St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Brighton.
2004 Haddad named head of the Caritas Christi Health Care System, New England's second-largest hospital network. He succeeds Dr. Michael F. Collins, who ran the Caritas system for a decade.
2006
February Some female Caritas Christi employees report they were sexually harassed by Haddad. An investigation into the allegations is launched.
April 24 The initial findings of the harassment investigation are brought to the attention of the chancery, according to Bishop Richard G. Lennon.
May 2 An outside lawyer retained by Cardinal Sean P. O'Malley informs the cardinal that her investigation of the case found the alleged victims credible and determined that there was a clear pattern of harassment.
May 8 In a letter to O'Malley, Helen G. Drinan, senior vice president for human resources at Caritas, writes, ``I implore you to accept the recommendation to terminate Dr. Haddad immediately and remove him from the workplace." She adds that Caritas has always fired employees who engaged in similar behavior.
May 10 Several Caritas employees allegedly see Haddad ``leer and wink" at one of the four victims.
May 16 Drinan, in a letter to the cardinal's secretary, the Rev. Robert T. Kickham, relays the reports of the alleged May 10 incident and asks that this information be promptly shared with the cardinal.
May 18 Caritas board of governors endorses O'Malley's recommendation that Haddad receive a ``stern reprimand." Haddad agrees to enter a sensitivity-training program.
May 19 In an e-mail to board members, Drinan elaborates on Haddad's behavior, saying he ``hugs subordinate female employees, kisses them on the lips, rubs them on the back, calls them late at night, and asks them about matters that are highly personal to them."
May 20 An employment-law specialist hired by the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Boston to review the Haddad case defends the reprimand in an interview with the Globe. Lawyer Steven B. Perlman says Haddad's conduct wasn't illegal, but more in the nature of ``effusive, friendly warmth that is nonetheless unwelcome."
May 22 After reprimand becomes public, more than 10 women come forward with new allegations of sexual harassment. Haddad says that he is committed to continuing as president and that the allegations stem from a cultural misunderstanding. ``In my Lebanese culture," he said, ``hugs and kisses among men and women are not only expected, but warmly given and received."
