By Laura Sanicola
Jack Brennan/The Fordham Ram
The November allegations brought against Fordham Public Safety and Fordham University Emergency Medical Services (FUEMS) by Marissa Marcinelli, FCRH ’17 have been deemed unfounded following investigation, according to an email from Rev. Joseph M. McShane, S.J., president of the university.
The university hired an independent team to review the allegations.
“The response of Fordham University Department of Public Safety employees to the information provided by [the students] in the early morning hours of November 11, 2015 was appropriate, measured and in accordance with Fordham University policy and procedure,” read an analysis from T&M Protection Resources, a firm that employs former prosecutors and law enforcement experts and specializes in investigating claims of misconduct. The firm was hired by the university “to avoid even the appearance of a biased investigation,” McShane wrote in a university-wide email on Tuesday morning. His email included excerpts of the investigation results.
In Marcinelli wrote “An Open Letter To The Fordham University Emergency Services Who Failed Me” on Slant News, a digital news website consisting of crowdsourced content. She described a Nov. 11 incident in which she and her friends were questioned by FUEMS after they requested that Public Safety pay off the taxi driver who allegedly attempted to sexually assault her friend. In a university-wide email following the alleged incident, McShane wrote that he would look to have the case reviewed of the account by independent professionals and requested the university’s patience during the investigation.
Marcinelli also claimed that the university officials violated HIPAA (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996) laws upon questioning her. HIPAA includes a privacy rule, establishing national standards for the protection of individuals’ medical records and other personal health information.
The investigation found that FUEMS behaved appropriately.
“The actions of Fordham University Emergency Medical Services and their interactions with [the students] in the early morning hours of November 11, 2015 was appropriate, measured and in accordance with Fordham University procedure and New York State Department of Health Bureau of Emergency Medical Services Protocols,” read another excerpt of the report sent by McShane.
Marcinelli was contacted by The Fordham Ram on Monday afternoon, at which time time she only commented that she was disappointed.
McShane concluded the email with his hopes that the report would “reassure students, faculty, and staff alike that we have taken the student’s allegations seriously, and that our staff acted with the high level of professionalism and respect that the Fordham community expects and deserves.”
