Handling Harassment Reports

Warnings

• Any rover, HR staff, department head, or chair of the con may issue a verbal warning to a participant that their behavior violates the con's policies. Warnings should be reported to HR as soon as practical.
• Any staff member or volunteer who is unauthorized to issue a verbal warming, but who witnesses an incident, must report to rovers or HR immediately.
• Due to the perceived "gruffness" of some staff members, we ask that individuals who are not authorized, have had any complaints against them, or do not feel comfortable issuing a verbal warning to not issue a verbal warning themselves. Please submit a report instead.

Presentations

Presentations or similar events should not be stopped for one-time gaffes or minor problems. A staff member should speak to the presenter afterward. However, staff should take immediate action to politely and calmly stop any presentation or event that repeatedly or seriously violates con policies. As an example, a staff member should say "I'm sorry. This presentation cannot be continued at the present time" with no further explanation.

Taking reports

When taking a report from someone experiencing harassment, a staff member shall make a record of what they say and reassure the reporter that they are being taken seriously.

When making a report a staff member shall do the following:

1. Take down the name and badge number of the participant.
2. Take down the time when the warning was issued.
3. Summarize the behavior that was in violation.
4. Take down the approximate time of the behavior (if different than the time of warning).
5. Note the circumstances surrounding the incident.
6. Take down their own name and badge number.
7. Take down the name and badge number of other people involved in the incident.

• Avoid making specific promises about what actions will be taken.
• Ask for all required information from the reporter if it has not been volunteered, but do not pressure them to provide it if they are reluctant. Even if a report lacks information, it should still be recorded and passed along to the appropriate staff member(s).
• If the reporter desires it, arrange for an escort by con staff or a trusted person, contact a friend, or contact local law enforcement.
• Do not pressure the reporter to take any action if they do not want to do it.
• Respect the reporter's privacy by not sharing unnecessary details with others, especially individuals who were not involved with the situation or non-staff members.

After a staff member has received all of the information they can acquire, they must submit their information and report to con ops.

Expulsion

A participant may be expelled by the decision of the chairs for whatever reasons they deem sufficient.

Public statements

Con staff should not make any public statements about the behavior of individual people during or after the con.

References

• This text was modified from: Policy Which has also been used by many other cons.
• Also see this text: Responding to Reports to further build this page to what we need it to be.