July 16, 2008

Bioethicist drops suit against Albany Medical College

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Ousted head of the Alden March Bioethics Institute (AMBI) Glenn McGee has agreed to drop his lawsuit against Albany Medical College for allegedly refusing to acknowledge his severance package, following his dismissal two months ago. This from The Business Review (Albany).

McGee, 40, was sacked on May 14 in the wake of allegations of questionable actions. Among them was the fallen ethicist made disparaging comments about colleagues, forged signatures, and promised jobs that were not in the offing. See more background and SciAm’s complete coverage here.

McGee remains a tenured professor at Albany Medical College, but according to The Albany Times Union he sued the institution for allegedly failing to recognize a severance package that provided his salary (for his former leadership position) and benefits through the end of this year. Read more about the details of the suit here.

McGee had acknowledged in previous interviews that he was receiving his salary checks as promised. But he sued because he claimed the university had not returned a signed copy of the severance package. Details from a SciAm article here.

ABMI late last month announced it would no longer house the The American Journal of Bioethics, a publication McGee co-founded and as of July 18 the AMBI’s Web site will no longer live at www.bioethics.org, which is registered in McGee’s name. Instead the Albany Medical College's bioethics programs will be found online here.

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