Code of Conduct Incident Reporting Guidelines

Reporting a Potential Code of Conduct Incident

Note: All incident reports will be considered “potential” until the COCP is formed and has reviewed the available information.

If you are attending an SLA in-person event, or participating in one of our online events or communication channels and believe someone is in physical danger, please ask the host, instructor(s), or another community member to contact the appropriate emergency responders (police, crisis hotline, etc.) or contact them yourself. Prior to an SLA event, staff or the hosting Community should determine emergency contact numbers and local procedures.

If you believe someone violated the Code of Conduct during an SLA in-person event or in an SLA online space, we ask that you report it. If you are not sure if the incident happened in an SLA governed space, we ask that you still report the incident. You are encouraged to submit your report by completing the Code of Conduct Incident Report Form .

Submit a Code of Conduct Incident Report

The COCP takes all incident reports seriously and will review all reports according to our guidelines. A report guarantees review, but not necessarily that an action will be taken.

Withdrawing a Code of Conduct Incident Report

A Code of Conduct Incident Report may be withdrawn by the person reporting or by the person impacted as circumstances warrant, however, in no case should the person impacted do so because of influence or coercion from others.

Alternative Contact Points

If filling out the form is not feasible, safe, or practical, such as in an event requiring the involvement of first responders, incidents can also be reported to any member of the Governing Policies, Documents and Bylaws Subcommittee (GPDBS), any member of the SLA Board, or the SLA Executive Director. Contact information can be found on the SLA website.

Confidentiality

All reports will be kept confidential with details shared only with the COCP members, subject to legal reporting requirements. If illegal activity is alleged, notification to law enforcement may be required or appropriate. Strict confidentiality may not be possible if illegal activity is alleged and law enforcement is notified.

In the case that an SLA member randomly identified for a COCP is involved in a report, the member will be removed from the Committee for that reported incident.

In rare cases, the COCP may suspend a community member. In such cases, the Executive Committee and SLA Executive Director will be informed in order to prevent future harm to the community, and Immediate Response Checklist will be employed.

Some incidents happen in one-on-one interactions, and though details are anonymised, the reported person may be able to guess who made the report. Retaliation of any kind is prohibited. If you have concerns about retaliation or your personal safety, please note those concerns in your report. You are still encouraged to report the incident so that we can support you while keeping our community members safe. In some cases, we can compile several anonymised reports into a pattern of behavior, and take action on that pattern.

The COCP may determine that a statement should be made about the incident and/or the action taken. If that is the case, the identities of all reporting party(ies) and reportees will remain confidential unless those individuals instruct the COCP otherwise.

COCP Final Report Data

The right to privacy for the individuals involved must be balanced with the need for transparency around the details of an incident. At its discretion, the COCP may report simply that an incident occurred and it was addressed, or the COCP may provide additional details.

Information about an incident may be communicated to relevant SLA staff in cases where a community member is suspended from engaging in the SLA community. In those cases, the Termed Suspension Checklist will be employed.

Following Up with Reporting Party(ies)

Once a report is filed through the Code of Conduct Incident Report Form[3]  or other communication channels, the COCP will handle the review and follow up according to the procedures in the Enforcement Guidelines.

Terminology

• Reporting Party: Person reporting an incident.
• Reportee: Person being reported.
• COCP : Group of people who work on a specific incident. There will be a minimum of three people on each COCP.
• Correspondent: Person on the CoC panel heading the process. This person is appointed on a per-incident basis by the COCP

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