In North Jutland, we have been working for a long time on a story regarding cross-border behavior in the Prehospital Company in Region North Jutland.
And on the basis of a large number of internal documents, Nordjyske can now tell the story of how a male director allegedly licked a female middle manager at a Christmas lunch in 2022.
An episode which has had consequences right up to today, when the woman has just been fired from the region.
Throughout the work on the case of the offending behaviour, Region North Jutland has shown an extreme closed-mindedness regarding the subject.
A closed-mindedness that must be assumed to have the purpose of getting the case to go away as quickly as possible – rather than really getting down to solving the problem.
The region justifies its silence by saying that it is a personnel matter and that they will therefore not be available for an interview.
Nordjyske has several times contacted the male protagonist of the case, medical director Martin Rostgaard-Knudsen, and his manager, pre-hospital director Peter Larsen.
Both refuse to be interviewed.
In addition, the region also refuses to be interviewed regarding their general rules for infringement cases, and they also do not answer the specific questions that we have sent them.
And it is not only the press that has difficulty getting the truth out of the leadership.
It turns out that the employees – i.e. ambulance rescuers, paramedics and the call center – have been given a cover story when the woman was called in sick on the basis of the abuse episode.
Here, the North Jutland Region wrote to the employees that the woman was in physical pain, although it appears from a meeting report that the reason for the sick leave was the psychological stress that stemmed from the cross-border episode at the Christmas lunch, where the woman says that she was held down and licked by the director.
In North Jutland, we have repeatedly called on Region North Jutland and those involved in the case to come forward for an interview in order to nuance the story and get both parties’ accounts.
The Metoo showdown has shown that we lack a common language to talk regarding how we can prevent cross-border episodes – or alternatively get them handled as best as possible.
You must of course be able to go to Christmas lunch without being licked, and it is indisputable that you must also be able to go to work following a case without ending up with dismissal.
Still, it is probably utopian to imagine that we can forever avoid such episodes.
The only thing we can count on is that we will not change the culture by remaining silent.
Therefore, we need to open a joint conversation regarding how we handle cases like this in the most optimal way and create a better and safer working environment.
Insight and nuances are absolutely central if we are to succeed in finding a model where everyone can progress well.
But it requires everyone to take responsibility. And Region Nordjylland has failed that responsibility in this case.
2024-02-26 10:27:51
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