Timeline of a Conversation That Never Happened
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In April 2019, DataCamp hired an outside firm investigate their mishandling of Jonathan Cornelissen’s sexual assault of Kara Woo.
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On June 12, Anurima Bhargava (one of the investigators) contacted me by email to ask if I would speak with her.
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On June 13, I replied:
I would be happy to take an hour to speak with you next week provided I’m able to record the meeting. I would also like to ask some questions about the discrepancy between what I was told on July 4, 2018 about the non-disparagement provision in the proposed separation agreement (http://third-bit.com/2019/04/15/an-exchange-with-datacamp.html) and DataCamp’s statement on April 24, 2019 that this agreement “specifically and expressly would have permitted them to raise concerns about the company” (https://www.datacamp.com/community/blog/board-update). If you’re OK with this, then please let me know when would be a good time.
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Five days later (June 18), Ms. Bhargava emailed to say, “Would you be open to discussing briefly? I’d like to see what may work for us both.”
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I responded the same day: “…while I mean no disrespect, I’m very reluctant to engage in any discussion at this point without some kind of record - I’d be happy to exchange a few more emails if that works for you.”
Ms. Bhargava never replied. So far as I can tell, the report does not explain the discrepancy I mention above. It also does not tell readers how many current or former DataCamp employees are prevented from speaking publicly about their experiences because of non-disclosure or non-disparagement agreements. (Please note that non-US citizens sometimes feel pressure to sign such agreements because of their visa status.)