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CoC Report Handling Instructions

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Reza Akhavan edited this page May 19, 2016 · 4 revisions

How to deal with Code of Conduct Reports (for Event Organizers and Mentors)

Most of this is taken from https://github.com/cascadiajs/2015.cascadiajs.com/blob/master/COC_REPORTING.md, which itself was largely pulled from http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Conference_anti-harassment/Responding_to_reports. Read it.

This is meant to guide how we, as a group, handle reports.

As volunteer mentors, NodeSchool SF does not require conflict or mediation training. If you receive a report, we ask you to take some initial action, but you are not required to confront anyone. That responsibilities lies with the event organizers. Mentors should feel comfortable and confident in their responsibilities at NodeSchool.

Organizers of NodeSchool SF, as of May 2016, are @jedireza and @llkats. During joint events with other chapters (like NodeSchool Oakland), organizers present from the other chapters have the same reporting roles as NodeSchool SF organizers. All organizers will be introduced by name at the beginning of the event.

Mentors of Nodeschool SF are anyone who volunteers in the monthly signup issue in GitHub.

Mentor Instructions: Immediately After A Report

These are the steps you, as a mentor, should take when you receive a report of a Code of Conduct Abuse.

  1. Find a private / quiet space to talk to the reporter. Mozilla SF has many tiny conference rooms that would be ideal.
  2. Tell the reporter that you need to inform an organizer. Ask if they know an organizer that they want to speak to in particular.
  3. If that organizer (or any organizer, if okay) is nearby, quietly ask them to join you in the conference room. If you don't see them, ask another mentor to find them. Do not go far from the reporter.
  4. Once an organizer joins you, the organizer will ask the reporter if they want you to stay.
  5. If you feel comfortable staying and the reporter wants you to stay, you may stay. If not (and that is perfectly okay), you may excuse yourself and go back to mentoring.

Organizer Instructions: Immediately After A Report

These are steps that you, as an organizer, should take when you receive a report of a Code of Conduct Abuse.

  1. Follow step 1 above, finding a private, quiet place to talk with the reporter.
  2. Ask if there is a trusted person the reporter would like to have in the room with them.
  3. Ask "Are you comfortable discussing this with me?".
  4. Ask what happened, and listen to what the reporter has to say.
  5. Ask the reporter to write down what happened. If that's not possible, organizers should write down as much as they can.
  6. Ask "How can I help?"
  7. Without pressuring the reporter, try to get this information:
  • Identifying information (name) of the participant doing the harassing
  • The behavior that was in violation
  • The approximate time of the behavior (if different than the time the report was made)
  • The circumstances surrounding the incident
  • Other people involved in the incident
  1. Tell the reporter "OK, this sounds like a breach of our code of conduct. If you're OK with it I am going to let an organizer know and figure out what our response will be."

Less than 1 hour after

  1. If there is any general threat to attendees or the safety of anyone including conference staff is in doubt, summon security or police. If there is no imminent danger to anyone, and everyone is presently physically safe, involve law enforcement or security only at a reporter's request.
  2. Inform other organizers that there has been a CoC breach. If the reporter said it was ok, provide basic details (what happened, approximate time). Example: Participant reported inappropriate comments from another participant around 8pm. If the reporter did not want details shared, at least let other organizers know there was a breach.
  3. If the reporter was ok with sharing details, schedule a meeting as soon as possible (that day) to discuss what happened, and our response.
  4. Document the report.

Before the event ends(?)

All of this assumes that the reporter is ok with you sharing details

  1. Speak with the alleged harasser and let them know there is a complaint about them. Get their side of the story.
  2. Staff only (Neither the complainant nor the alleged harasser should attend) should meet to discuss the following:
  • what happened?
  • are we doing anything about it?
  • who is doing those things?
  • when are they doing them?
  1. Communicate with the alleged harasser about our response. "This is our decision: {DECISION}. If you'd like to discuss this further, please email [email protected], but in the meantime, you must {DO THIS}"

At the next event

  1. Communicate with the community about the incident. Something like "{THING} happened. This was a violation of our policy. We have taken {ACTION}. This is a good time for all attendees to review our policy at {URL}. If anyone would like to discuss this further they can contact us using the information on the Code of Conduct."
  2. DO NOT share details with uninvolved parties.
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