Code of Conduct Incident Response Procedure and Enforcement Guidelines

This document outlines the Incident Response Procedure and Enforcement Guidelines followed by the SLA COCP after an incident report is received through the incident report form[1]  or other channels. These guidelines are used when the COCP reviews and resolves incidents to ensure consistency, transparency, and fairness. SLA has access to legal support should there be a need.

The COCP will attempt to ensure your safety and help with any immediate needs, particularly at in-person events. The incident reporting party(ies) will receive an email from the President-Elect and/or Membership Coordinator acknowledging receipt of an incident report within three (3) business days (Monday - Friday) of the form submission, and we aim for the same response time through other channels.

If there is an ongoing incident or a threat to physical safety, the committee’s immediate priority will be to protect everyone involved. This means we may delay an official response until we believe that the situation has ended and that everyone is physically safe.

The COCP will make all reasonable efforts to meet within two (2) business days (Monday - Friday) after formation to review the incident and determine next steps such as setting a meeting with the reporting party(ies) and/or reportee(s). Once the COCP has a complete account of the events, they will make a decision as to how to respond. Examples of possible incident responses are outlined in the SLA Enforcement Guidelines. The committee will respond within one week to the original reporting party(ies) with either a resolution or an explanation of why the situation is not yet resolved.

Once the COCP has determined its resolution, the original reporting party(ies) will be contacted to let them know what action (if any) will be taken. The COCP will take into account feedback from the reporting party(ies) on the appropriateness of its response but may decide not to act on that feedback.

Finally, the correspondent of the COCP and the membership coordinator will write up a transparency report for incidents reported through the incident report form[2]  or other channels. The COCP may choose to make a report to the membership of the incident while maintaining anonymity of those involved.

Incident Response Procedure for the SLA Code of Conduct Panel

The following is a summary of the steps the COCP takes when responding to an incident reported via the incident report form[3] . More detailed information is also provided below the summary.

• If there is a need for an immediate response (physical danger, disruption in a workshop, ongoing online conversation) communicated through any channel, the COCP can activate the Termed Suspension Process.
• For non-immediate responses submitted via the incident report form[4] , an auto-generated email is sent to the COCP that a report has been received.
• An auto-response is sent to the reporting party(ies) acknowledging that the incident report was received via the secure form.
• The first person on the COCP to see the report reviews it and provides an initial response to the reporting party(ies) within 3 business days of the report being submitted or immediately, if safety is an issue.
• This response will include a timeline of what to expect as the COCP works to provide a resolution.
• The first person on the COCP to see the report completes an incident data collection form.
• The COCP meets to discuss the information gathered about the incident.
• The COCP determines if the incident occurred in an SLA space and is therefore appropriate to review.
• The COCP reviews all of the information included in the incident report and determines whether more information is needed. If so, that information is requested from the reporting party(ies).
• The COCP contacts the reportee(s) to set up a meeting, if necessary. At least two COCP members should be present at the meeting with the reportee(s).
• An optional meeting with the reporting party(ies) takes place to obtain more information. At least two members of the COCP should be present at the meeting.
• After further collection and review of information, if needed, the COCP determines a resolution. Possible resolutions are located in this documentation and include, but are not limited to, a private reprimand, public reprimand, and termed suspension.
• The COCP updates the reporting party(ies) and solicits feedback on the resolution. Feedback may or may not be used to update the resolution.
• The COCP updates the reportee(s).
• COCP conducts a final meeting/communication to ensure that the reportee understands the resolution and has an opportunity to clarify concerns.
• The COCP then determines whether the Termed Suspension Process should be employed or other actions taken.
• Essential personnel are notified to implement any actions. Report details remain confidential.
• Decisions and outcomes are logged on the private COCP repository at AH.
• The correspondent of the COCP leads the writing up of a transparency report that includes steps taken and rationale behind their decision.

Report Acknowledgement

When a report is received, the staff and/or Board liaison will reply to the reporting party(ies) to confirm receipt. This reply will be sent within three (3) business days of the incident being reported, and they will strive to respond more quickly than that.

For details about what the incident report should contain, see the Incident Reporting Guidelines. If a report does not contain enough information, the committee will attempt to obtain all relevant information to resolve the incident. The committee is empowered to act on the behalf of SLA in contacting any individuals involved, unless the reporting party(ies) specifically does not request it. Protecting the safety of the reporting party(ies) is the priority in any incident report or review. The committee is also empowered to act if any of its members become aware of ongoing behavior that, taken as a whole over a long time period, is inappropriate.

Incident Response Assessment

Upon receiving a report of an incident, the COCP will meet to:

• Choose a member to serve as the Correspondent.
• Review report documentation to determine the content and context of the incident.
• The staff and/or Board liaison will consult documentation of past incidents for patterns of behavior (only if available and applicable) and inform the COCP if there are previous reports about the members involved in the current report.
• Discuss appropriate resolutions to the incident.
• Determine the follow up actions for the reportee(s), reporting party(ies), and anyone else named in the report who may have been impacted.

The deliberations of the incident response assessment will be stored in the COCP’s private repository at AH.

The COCP  will aim to have a recommendation for resolution agreed upon within one week of receipt of a reported incident. In the event that a resolution cannot be determined at that time, the COCP will provide the staff and Board liaison with an update and projected timeline a recommendation for resolution.

Following up with the Reportee

When following up with the reportee, the staff and/or Board liaison  will:

• Explain that an incident was reported that involves the reportee.
• In this explanation, the focus will be on the impact of their behavior, not their intent.
• Reiterate the Code of Conduct and that their behavior was deemed inappropriate.
• Provide concrete examples of how they can improve their behavior.
• Give them the opportunity to state their view of the incident.
• Remind them of the consequences of their behavior, or future consequences if the behavior is repeated.
• Explain the possible resolutions that may be enforced should the COCP determine there is a breach.
• Conduct a final meeting to ensure that the reportee understands the recommendation for resolution and has an opportunity to clarify concerns. In some cases, this final communication could be carried over email at the discretion of the staff and Board liaison.

Resolutions

The COCP sub-panel must agree on a recommendation for resolution by all members investigating the incident in question. If the COCP sub-panel cannot reach a decision and deadlocks for more than five (5) business days, they will return the matter to the full COCP for selection of a new sub-panel.

What follows are examples of possible resolutions to an incident report. This list is not comprehensive, and the SLA reserves the right to take any action it deems necessary and appropriate to resolve an incident. Possible resolutions to an incident include:

• Nothing, if the COCP sub-panel determined there was no breach of the Code of Conduct.
• A private verbal reprimand from the committee to the individual(s) involved. This conversation may happen in-person, over video conference call, or by phone. The COCP will write a short report of the conversation to be shared with the reportee for verification purposes and then shared with the COCP sub-panel and maintained on record in the private repository.
• A private emailed reprimand from the SLA President and/or Executive Director to the individual(s) involved.
• Requiring that the reportee avoid any interaction with, and physical proximity to, another person at SLA events. Violations of such restrictions shall constitute an additional CoC violation if they occur while under discipline or any constraints levied by recommendation to the Board by the COCP.
• To the extent possible, the COCP sub-panel that addressed an original violation shall reconvene to address a subsequent violation. The COCP sub-panel shall be provided with documentation regarding the original violation if necessary.
• Refusal of alcoholic beverage purchases at SLA events.
• Ending a presentation early if it violates the Code of Conduct.
• Not publishing the video or slides of a presentation that violated the Code of Conduct.
• Not allowing a speaker who violated the Code of Conduct to give (further) presentations at SLA workshops, webinars, or events now or in the future.
• Requiring that the reportee not volunteer for future SLA events either indefinitely or for a certain time period as recommended  by the COCP
• Requiring that the reportee refund any travel grant funding they received.
• Requiring that the reportee immediately leave an event and not return.
• Immediately ending any volunteer responsibilities and privileges.
• An announcement of an incident, ideally in the same venue that the violation occurred e.g., on Connect for a Connect violation, etc.). The SLA President and/or Executive Director may choose to publish this message elsewhere for transparency or as part of the resolution.
• An imposed suspension (e.g. asking someone to “take a week off” from SLA community and communication channels). The SLA President or Executive Director will communicate this suspension to the reportee. They will be asked to take this suspension voluntarily, but if they do not agree, then a temporary ban may be imposed to enforce this suspension.
• A permanent or temporary ban from some or all SLA spaces (Connect, in-person events including workshops, etc). SLA staff will maintain records of all such bans so that they may be reviewed in the future, extended to new SLA communication forums, or otherwise maintained.
• Assistance to the complainant with a report to other bodies, for example, institutional offices or appropriate law enforcement agencies.
• The SLA staff and Board of Directors will be responsible for enforcement and compliance with the final recommended resolution of the COCP.

The COCP may recommend enacting one or more of the above resolutions. Once a resolution is agreed upon, but before it is enacted, the SLA President and/or Executive Director will contact the reporting party/parties and any other affected parties to explain the proposed resolution. The SLA President and/or Executive Director will note any feedback for the record and inform the appropriate COCP members of this feedback. The COCP members and/or sub-panel will determine if the feedback supports changing their recommendation.

Appeal Process

Any individual(s) involved in a Code of Conduct report has/have the right to appeal a decision made by the Board or Executive Committee. An appeal can be made directly to the SLA President and/or the Executive Director by sending an email with subject line Code of Conduct Incident Appeal.

The email should include documentation related to the incident to support the appeal. The documentation may include, but does not have to be limited to:

• Information from the reportee justifying reasoning for the appeal. Such information must be information that was not provided or available during the initial investigation.
• Letters of support from community members.
• Statements from other individuals involved in or who witnessed the incident to support the appeal.

Appeals can be requested up to 30 days after a resolution has been determined.

Upon receipt of an appeal request, the SLA President shall provide details of the appeal to the Board or the Executive Committee, depending on which group addressed the original incident. The Board or Executive Committee, as appropriate, shall determine if there is enough additional information to justify initiating a full appeal process.

If the Board or Executive Committee, as described above, determines that there is enough additional information to justify initiating a full appeal process, the SLA President shall convene an executive (closed) session of the appropriate body to discuss such additional information.

Any decision of the Board or Executive Committee regarding an appeal shall be final and binding.  

Accountability

The COCP will never publicly discuss the details of an incident; any statements will be made by the SLA President, or, in their absence or inability to do so, the SLA President-Elect or Executive Director.

At the end of every quarter, the COCP will provide to the Board an aggregated count of the incidents they reviewed, indicating how many reports were received, how many incidents were investigated, how many times it made a recommendation to the Board, how many times external support was requested, and, for each incident, under which part of the Code of Conduct the incident was classified. If no incidents were reported or investigated during a given quarter, the reported count will be zero (0).