YuLin Zhen, Photography Editor

Content warning: This article describes sexual harassment. 

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Robert Sullivan, former senior director for residential dining at Yale Hospitality, was the subject of at least two complaints to the Yale Office of Institutional Equity and Accessibility, or OIEA, the University body that responds to reports of harassment, an investigation by the News reveals. Additionally, based on interviews with 15 current and former Hospitality employees, Sullivan’s routine workplace conduct — including hugging, heavy touching, extended shoulder rubs and cheek kisses — may have been in violation of Yale’s Sexual Misconduct Policies. 

In July 2019, after former dining hall worker Vanesa Suarez reported Sullivan for sexual harassment, the OIEA dismissed the allegation without ever meeting with her. In May 2023, after a former dining hall manager reported Sullivan for initiating nonconsensual “physical and sexual contact,” the OIEA began a formal investigation which concluded that Sullivan’s behavior was “‘severe’ under a reasonable person standard” and in violation of Yale’s Sexual Misconduct Policies. The News has obtained OIEA documentation related to both cases. In September 2023, following the OIEA’s finding, Yale Hospitality announced that Sullivan would be retiring, effective Jan. 1, 2024. But Sullivan remained in Yale’s employment software as a “Consultant” until at least Sept. 19 of this year. 

When presented with the contents of this story, Sullivan wrote in a text to the News, “Most of the information that you have provided above is inaccurate and defamatory.” Sullivan asserted that he worked “in a consulting capacity from September through December” and retired on Jan. 1, 2024. Sullivan viewed but did not respond to two follow-ups asking if he had received compensation from Yale in 2024 and two follow-ups asking him to specify his factual disputes with the allegations of misconduct presented in this story. 

When presented with the contents of this story, a University spokesperson confirmed on Oct. 20, 2024, that Sullivan was no longer employed by the University. The spokesperson did not specify the date that Sullivan left Yale. The spokesperson declined to comment on the specifics of Sullivan’s conduct and departure. The spokesperson also noted that Yale does not “comment on or even confirm the existence of specific complaints,” to maintain the confidentiality of the OIEA’s process.

Sullivan began his career at Yale in 1989 as a dining hall manager. In 2005, he was promoted and took on a series of senior leadership roles, most recently as senior director of residential dining from 2021 until his departure in 2023. In that role, he oversaw operations in all 14 residential college dining halls and reported to Yale Hospitality’s top executive, Associate Vice President Rafi Taherian.

Over the past nine months, the News has obtained relevant documents and interviewed 31 sources, including current and former workers and managers at Yale Hospitality, residential college administrators and heads of college. Almost all interviewees requested anonymity for fear of professional retribution, including several former Hospitality employees who are still employed in other Yale departments. The News has assigned some anonymous sources a random initial for the sake of clarity. 

“None of it was secret”

Fifteen current and former Hospitality employees described either receiving or witnessing hugging, heavy touching, extended shoulder rubs and cheek kisses from Sullivan during supervisory visits to dining halls and other workplaces, which occurred about once a month. According to these employees, this conduct began as early as 2014, when Sullivan served as director of residential operations. One worker said they witnessed these behaviors as early as 2005. According to all 15 employees, Sullivan exhibited this behavior openly and consistently until his departure. The News has not confirmed if this conduct was the subject of complaints to the OIEA. 

If workers felt that this behavior created a hostile environment, or that objecting to this behavior would affect their job standing, then Sullivan would be in violation of Yale’s Sexual Misconduct Policies

One former worker, A., said that co-workers would express disgust after interactions with Sullivan, describing him as “creepy” and “horny,” and asking each other, “Why is he hugging on me like that?” 

“[Sullivan’s conduct] was a conversation that multiple employees had in multiple different buildings,” said A., who worked in both catering and residential dining. “In every building I’ve ever been in, I’ve probably had that conversation with someone … this is a known thing around campus.” 

Twelve employees described a power gap between themselves and Hospitality leadership. Nine employees told the News they felt that reporting Sullivan would not have stopped his conduct. Four employees told the News they felt that reporting Sullivan would put their job in jeopardy. 

Not all workers were made uncomfortable by Sullivan’s conduct. “That’s just uncle Bob,” said one worker who has been with Hospitality for more than two decades. “That’s just how he’s always been.” 

But many characterized Sullivan’s conduct as sexual in nature. “I witnessed inappropriate behavior from day one,” said L., a former Hospitality manager. And, L. added, “None of it was secret.”

“There was no repercussions for anything,” A. said. “It seemed like everyone knew but no one did or said anything about it.”

Report of harassment dismissed by OIEA

Vanesa Suarez began working at Hospitality in January 2015 as a part-time banquet server. She was 19 years old and a student at Central Connecticut State University. At the time Sullivan was director of catering, overseeing Suarez’s department. Suarez believed that a friendship with Sullivan could help her professionally. When she traveled to Peru in December 2o15, she brought back a souvenir for Sullivan, a peach-colored tie. 

In August 2016, Suarez joined Hospitality full time and that same month attended her first all-hands meeting, held in Commons. As a team-building activity, a co-worker agreed to lead a Zumba class, which both Suarez and Sullivan expressed interest in. Suarez does not remember the exact wording that Sullivan used in a text exchange that occurred shortly before the class — she has changed phones and service providers, and did not back up her messages — but, she recalled, “he said something along the lines of, ‘I would love to get a private dance from you.’”

Suarez, distressed, texted back something short but firm. She thinks it was just one word: no. Suarez worried her job would be at risk if she sent a more forceful rejection. “I wanted to scream immediately,” Suarez said. “I wanted to say, ‘You’re fucking gross.’” 

At first, Suarez did not tell anyone about the incident and tried to suppress it. She blamed herself, believing that giving Sullivan the tie had encouraged his advance. She did not report Sullivan. Three friends of Suarez’s, one of whom is already quoted above as A., confirmed that Suarez told them about the incident a few years later, before she left Hospitality. Their recollections matched what Suarez told the News.

Three years later, Suarez decided to leave Hospitality, citing other workplace pressures including what she said was an incident of sexual harassment from a different manager. The News could not independently verify that claim. Working at Hospitality, she said, had become too taxing on her mental and physical health. 

On July 18, 2019, Suarez wrote a two-page letter, obtained by the News, explaining her decision to leave and reporting, for the first time, the incident of harassment she faced from Sullivan. 

“Robert made me feel like a powerless 20 year-old girl,” she wrote in the letter, “and for a long time I felt like I was alone in that feeling. I had decided to not speak about this particular incident until I noticed other female coworkers and even some female undergrad students expressing discomfort towards Robert, also disclosing how he is often ‘too touchy’ with many of the women around him.”

She sent the letter to her manager, two HR representatives, Associate Vice President of Hospitality Rafi Taherian and — because she was working at the Benjamin Franklin and Pauli Murray dining halls — to heads of college Charles Bailyn and Tina Lu. According to an email chain obtained by the News, Lu responded to Suarez’s email the next morning. Three days later Lu and Bailyn met with Suarez to discuss her concerns, offer support and help connect Suarez to the OIEA —  the body that could initiate a formal investigation. 

On July 29, 2019, Suarez received an email from Valarie Stanley, then director of the OIEA. Stanley wrote to Suarez that she had been forwarded the resignation letter, and that the incident with Sullivan “concerns me deeply!” She asked Suarez for a copy of Sullivan’s text, and offered to meet. “It takes great courage to bring these kinds of issues forward,” Stanley wrote. 

Suarez and Stanley never met. 

Suarez was offered two one-hour meeting slots by the OIEA, neither of which she could accommodate. Suarez proposed other times and did not receive a response. When Stanley emailed to suggest that Suarez contact her cell service provider to recover the text, Suarez replied that she had already tried without success, and told Stanley she was still waiting to hear back about her proposed times. Stanley encouraged Suarez to reschedule. 

By then it was Aug. 7. Suarez waited until Aug. 20 to ask the OIEA for a new meeting time and again received no response. On Sept. 12, she wrote once more: “I would still like to speak to [Stanley] regarding my resignation letter and the incidents involved.” The OIEA informed Suarez that Stanley would be out of the office until the end of the month and that she would receive notice when Stanley returned. Suarez did not receive further communication from the OIEA. She gave up on bringing a formal complaint against Sullivan. 

“It felt like they were so used to this,” Suarez said. “She just moved on.”

In fact, the OIEA had moved on. On Aug. 16, 2019 — just eight days after the proposed meeting slots, and four days before Suarez tried again — Stanley wrote in an email: “I have completed my investigation of the allegations made by Vanesa Suarez. I found no evidence to support her allegation that Robert Sullivan sexually harassed her.” 

Stanley continued: “[Suarez] said she would like to meet with me. However, after I suggested that she call her mobile carrier and she responded that she wasn’t able to retrieve the information from them, she said she couldn’t keep the appointment that she made with me. She did not respond to either mine or [another OIEA employee’s] invitation to schedule another meeting.” 

In a copy of the email obtained by the News, the recipients are redacted. Suarez says she was not a recipient. She was not even aware that an “investigation” had been opened. 

Suarez received a copy of the email from the OIEA this month; it was the only document provided by the OIEA after Suarez requested all records relating to her contact with the office.

A formal investigation, according to the OIEA’s General Procedures, includes interviews with relevant parties and other fact-finding measures, after which a Findings Report with a factual determination and a recommendation is provided to the complainant, respondent and respondent’s supervisor. Not all disclosures to the OIEA generate a formal investigation, which usually begins only after the aggrieved party has had an initial interview, is made aware of the options available to them and requests that the OIEA proceed with their complaint. 

Suarez was never offered the chance to request a formal investigation. But despite this, the OIEA — the office that enforces Yale’s anti-harassment policies — “investigated” and subsequently dismissed Suarez’s allegation without speaking to her. 

Stanley declined to comment, citing Yale’s confidentiality policy regarding OIEA complaints. 

It is unclear if the broader concern Suarez raised in her resignation letter — that Sullivan might have harassed other women as well — received further attention from either the OIEA, HR or Taherian. 

Taherian declined the News’ request for comment. 

Head of College advocates for change

In the spring 2023, a head of college, or HoC, began reaching out to former dining hall managers to inquire about negative experiences that managers may have had at Hospitality, according to two individuals with knowledge of the HoC’s efforts. The HoC declined to comment; the News is withholding their name out of respect for their privacy. 

A former operations administrator, J., told the News that she witnessed “inappropriate” conduct from Sullivan toward the HoC in one instance, and that on multiple occasions in spring 2023, she and the HoC discussed their shared discomfort about previous interactions with Sullivan. According to J., the HoC also expressed their intention to meet with former dining hall managers in order to better understand the culture of Hospitality, and to advocate for changes to the department. The HoC, J. said, “definitely was instrumental in getting the attention of leadership.” 

Former Hospitality manager L., also confirmed knowledge of the HoC’s efforts, but declined to provide a more detailed account. 

On March 29, 2023, an OIEA employee reached out to residential college assistant directors of operation, then called operations managers, to ask for their participation in “a review of the climate and culture within Residential Dining,” according to copies of the email reviewed by the News. 

OIEA finds Sullivan committed sexual misconduct

V. worked as a dining hall manager for more than a decade, from the mid-2000s through the mid-2010s. In February 2011, she experienced what the OIEA eventually characterized as nonconsensual “physical and sexual contact” from Sullivan. 

The News has obtained a copy of the OIEA’s Findings Report, which wrote that Sullivan’s behavior was “‘severe’ under a reasonable person standard.” In addition to V., the News spoke to four sources familiar with the specifics of the incident and the complaint. 

At the time of the incident, V. chose not to report Sullivan. Her job was already difficult enough, she told the News. And she knew that a co-worker had previously filed a complaint against Sullivan, but Sullivan didn’t seem to have faced any repercussions. 

The News spoke with that co-worker, a former manager, G., who worked under Sullivan in Hospitality’s retail department. In 2009, G. said, she filed a complaint with the Office for Equal Opportunity Programs, or OEOP, the predecessor organization of the OIEA, alleging that Sullivan verbally harassed her on a routine basis. She says this conduct included screaming and belittling comments, but not sexual harassment. The News could not obtain documents related to G.’s interactions with the OEOP. 

According to G., the OEOP told her that Sullivan had violated Yale’s policies. But, she says, they only recommended that G. be moved outside Sullivan’s chain of command, from retail into residential dining. G. left Yale in 2014. She said a few factors informed her decision to leave, including the fact that Sullivan had recently been promoted to Director of Residential Operations, and was again her supervisor. 

Based on what she heard from G., V. had no faith that filing a complaint would lead to any change. And V. feared that she could face retribution for naming Sullivan.

 “I didn’t feel like I had a recourse,” V. told the News. “I had to suppress it and continue to work with this man. And he would come and he would hug you… I just had to suppress it.”

In spring 2023, V., who now works in another Yale department, was asked to participate in the OIEA’s climate review. On April 21, 2023, she met with the OIEA and disclosed the 2011 incident. OIEA staff assured V. that it was not too late to file a formal complaint, but, she said, “I honestly believed it wasn’t gonna go anywhere.” On May 12, 2023, relying more on hope than trust, she filed anyway. 

From May through July, the OIEA interviewed V., Sullivan, and three witnesses — the OIEA calls all other non-parties “witnesses.” In this case, one witness provided a first-hand account of the incident and two witnesses provided corroborating accounts. 

On July 27, 2023, OIEA Director Diane Cornelius Charles informed V. and Sullivan that the OIEA had concluded its investigation. Witness testimony supported V.’s account, and the OIEA found that Sullivan had violated Yale’s Sexual Misconduct Policies. 

Charles also sent the report to Taherian and Taherian’s supervisor Jack Callahan, Yale’s senior vice president of operations.

“OIEA recommends that Hospitality leadership address this violation proportional to the behavior,” Charles wrote. 

Callahan did not respond to the News’ request for comment. 

Sullivan exits, issued “consultant” position 

On Aug. 9, 2023, Taherian emailed residential college administrators to inform them that “Bob Sullivan, Senior Director for Residential Dining, needed to take some time unexpectedly.” The News obtained several copies of this email. Stacey Hepburn-James, then director of strategic initiatives and business support, took the role of interim senior director. Taherian copied Hepburn-James, several administrators and Dean of Yale College Pericles Lewis. Sullivan was not a visible recipient of the email. 

Taherian’s phrasing suggested that the leave was temporary. As late as Oct. 12, 2023, Sullivan’s email was set with the automatic reply, “I will be out of the office for the next several weeks,” according to an email obtained by the News. But in mid-August, Sullivan was excluded from an organizational chart displayed at the pre-semester all-hands meeting, according to two workers present. 

On Sept. 8, 2023, Taherian emailed to announce that Sullivan would be retiring. The News has obtained multiple copies of Taherian’s email; the complete list of recipients is unknown because it was sent via blind copy. “I want to give my thanks and appreciation to Bob for his contributions to Hospitality and Yale,” Taherian wrote. 

By Oct. 2, 2023, the Hospitality website had been updated to reflect Hepburn-James’ role as interim senior director for residential dining, and Sullivan’s website profile was removed entirely. On Oct. 16, Yale Hospitality issued a press release appointing Hepburn-James to the senior director position in full. The release did not mention who she was succeeding. 

According to Taherian’s Sept. 8 email, Sullivan would formally retire on Jan. 1, 2024, and before that date, was to assist in a “seamless transition” by working remotely as an “operational consultant to the senior leadership team.”

But according to Yale’s Workday employee management software, Sullivan was issued a new position on Jan. 1, 2024, the same day that he retired: “Hospitality Consultant.” In that role his paygroup was listed as “Monthly.”

It is unclear what his responsibilities entailed. In Workday, Sullivan was not listed within Hospitality’s operating structure, but rather in a department labeled “UUGUUG UG Salaries,” which at different times in 2024 held a fluctuating collection of seemingly unrelated employees. 

According to a Yale College administrator familiar with the University’s employment practices, it is not unusual for recently retired executives to receive compensation during a transitionary period, in exchange for their continued advice and judgment. 

The consultant position might be an indication that Sullivan reached a settlement with Yale, according to Yale Law School professor Michael Wishnie ’87 LAW ’93. But, Wishnie said, continued compensation does not necessarily mean that Sullivan reached a settlement: “Without Yale saying more, it’s impossible to know.” 

Sullivan remained in the role of “Hospitality Consultant” until some point between Sept. 19 and Oct. 6, 2024, when he was removed from both Workday and the Yale Directory. The News asked a University spokesperson why Sullivan was issued the consultant role in Workday on January 1, 2024. The spokesperson did not directly respond to this inquiry. 

In July 2023, when the OIEA found that Sullivan had committed sexual misconduct, Taherian led the Hospitality department and served as Sullivan’s direct supervisor. As associate vice president, Taherian reported to Callahan. 

Both men were copied on the July 2023 OIEA report. Taherian was also a recipient of Suarez’s 2019 resignation letter, which described the harassment she said she faced from Sullivan. 

Yale Hospitality headquarters are located on the 4th floor of 246 Church St.

Changes at Hospitality

After Sullivan’s departure, a series of changes were enacted at Hospitality, according to 11 Hospitality employees and Yale College administrators, and several documents obtained by the News. A new “pod system” was put in place at the start of the fall 2023 semester, which grouped dining halls into three distinct pods, each under a mid-level manager. On Nov. 1, 2023, Callahan established a new “Campus Services” team within Operations, which moved Taherian and Hospitality under the supervision of John Barden, vice president for technology and campus services. 

On March 20, 2024, Barden and Callahan co-signed an email announcing that Taherian — Sullivan’s supervisor and the chief executive of Hospitality — was stepping down. 

The email, obtained by the News, named Hepburn-James and Adam Millman, senior director of retail, catering and auxiliaries, as “interim co-leaders of Yale Hospitality,” a role that the two still share. Between March 25, 2023, and the end of the academic year, Taherian was to serve as “strategic advisor.” 

“Missed moment”  

Fifteen current and former Hospitality employees expressed frustration with the lack of transparency surrounding Sullivan’s departure. 

Suarez, for her part, is glad that Sullivan left. But she is not confident that the administrators above him have had an honest reckoning with what happened and for how long it occurred. 

One former manager described Sullivan’s departure as a “missed moment.” They were disappointed that they did not see Yale taking clear steps to acknowledge and address what the manager saw as cultural failures in Hospitality.

Hospitality employees interviewed for this story spoke of the courage required to raise concerns, a fear of retribution, a feeling that administrators were not paying attention and a belief — justified or not — that their boss was untouchable.

The News repeatedly asked a University spokesperson if any efforts had taken place since July 2023 to ensure that Hospitality employees can effectively report their superiors for misconduct without fear of repercussion. The spokesperson did not directly respond to these inquiries.

Silence, it seems, is what everyone in Hospitality — workers and managers alike — has come to expect. Every employee approached for this story, including a number who declined to comment, even anonymously, indicated that they felt they could jeopardize their jobs by discussing Sullivan’s behavior or departure. No one, however, expressed surprise that administrators did not acknowledge a cultural problem at Hospitality, or communicate plans for improvement. 

“It’s Yale, baby,” one dining hall worker said, “they don’t tell us anything.”

If you experienced harassment as an employee of Yale Hospitality and are interested in discussing your experience with the News, contact investigations@yaledailynews.com.

Update, Oct. 25: This story has been updated to provide more information on Yale’s OIEA confidentiality policy.

ETAI SMOTRICH-BARR
Etai Smotrich-Barr is an investigations reporter for the News.