Berlin centre’s taskforce responds to alleged harassment

Max Delbrück Center took measures after reports of sexual misconduct surfaced last year

The “anti-harassment taskforce” at the Berlin’s Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine, a Helmholtz Association member, has issued its first guidance in response to allegations of sexual harassment that came to light in mid-2018 and led to one employee being banned from the facility.

In a statement issued on 24 October, the MDC announced it had received reports from employees that they had been sexually harassed by a co-worker. It said that the board of directors did not, “unfortunately”, learn of these allegations until summer last year, after which it began proceedings to investigate the incident and set up the taskforce.