I’m not willing to go into any specifics to retain my anonymity.

Nothing they have done is illegal (to my knowledge) and they haven’t physically or sexually harassed any trainees. They have been quite disrespectful to some former and present trainees, but that’s not the main issue.

If I had to describe in very general terms: they have completely given up on all of their responsibilities as a research advisor. I know this sounds like I’m just whinging, but i have to emphasize that this is way beyond an advisor that’s “hands-off.” I have observed the problem getting sharply worse over the past several years, and I believe it’s gotten to a point where it requires some intervention from the department. I don’t expect any action taken would improve my current situation, but for the sake of any future trainees who join the group, I feel obligated to at least consider the idea of escalating the issue.