Whistleblower Fired After Speaking Publicly About Sexual Harassment Allegations

A woman who alleged her organization mishandled sexual harassment claims was dismissed. “I hope that no one else will have to suffer as I did in trying to do what is right,” she told NOTUS.

Uyghurs Human Rights AP-20157668359529

Lee Jin-man/AP

A high-profile human rights organization has fired a whistleblower who went public with her concerns about its handling of sexual harassment allegations — even though the group installed a new board chair and created new ethics and workplace safety policies after she spoke up.

Two months after NOTUS published an investigation into sexual harassment within human rights groups, one of the women who went on the record, Julie Millsap, said she was terminated from her role as a contractor for the nonprofit Uyghur Human Rights Project. As government relations manager for the group, Millsap advocated for policies to protect Uyghurs and others from oppression by the Chinese government.

UHRP placed Millsap on paid leave shortly after she raised alarms in the May 10 NOTUS report about the group’s response to misconduct claims. She had voiced the same concerns internally for months but felt the nonprofit was not taking her seriously. She was initially set to be on leave for one week, according to a May 11 email informing Millsap of the decision, but UHRP extended it without a clear return date. On July 7, the new board chair told her the panel had chosen to end her employment.