The boards of United Way Worldwide and United Way U.S.A. have announced that an investigation into allegations of sexual harassment and retaliation against those who reported it found that UWW had followed "appropriate processes and procedures" but that those policies and procedures should be reviewed. 

According to a statement issued by UWW board chair Juliette Tuakli and United Way U.S.A. board chair Neeraj Mehta, the law firm hired by UWW to conduct the investigation, Proskauer Rose LLP, "did not find evidence UWW engaged in actionable harassment, discrimination, or retaliation" in its handling of internal complaints of harassment made by three women. While the women filed charges with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging that they were fired or ostracized for reporting the misconduct, the investigation found that "the subsequent employment decisions made with respect to the three employees at issue were found to be based on legitimate, non-discriminatory, and non-retaliatory reasons."

"Although outside the scope of Proskauer's investigation," Tuakli and Mehta wrote, "Proskauer also noted that workplace culture and morale are areas that the boards should examine more deeply, and assessed UWW's policies and procedures regarding discrimination, harassment, and retaliation, and the reporting and investigation of such matters, finding areas that could be enhanced." 

The boards plan to review and incorporate the recommendations as a part of a broader plan to improve United Way's governance and create a task force that "will examine several elements of UWW culture including engagement, professional development, accountability, transparency, and mission and purpose."

The statement also notes that Proskauer encouraged all current employees to provide information via an anonymous email address, that it received twenty responses and interviewed twenty-three current employees, and that it reviewed twenty-five hundred pages of policies and procedures, complaints submitted to the orgainzation's Ethics Hotline, personnel records, and employee surveys. None of the three women who filed the EEOC complaints had been contacted by the law firm, however, and one of them, Ana Avendaño, former vice president for labor engagement, told the Chronicle of Philanthropy that she had "information that would have helped in the investigation." 

"This was not a thorough, fair, or reliable investigation," said Lisa Bowman, former executive vice president and chief marketing officer, who also filed an EEOC complaint, "and only serves to protect bad actors, discourage women from coming forward, while attempting to absolve United Way's leadership for their years-long failure to address systemic problems."