Sexual Harassment Policy

At the end of the chat copy and paste the log into a PM to the admin/mod who you are speaking to for verification. Issue resolved.
Again, I stress that I'm trying to open all channels of communication to people who might not otherwise come forward - a 2 minute IM conversation could be the same as 4 or 5 days worth of PM conversations.

 

Yes, but what Breezy was getting at is that chat logs can be edited... things can be omited / changed. It's not really a reliable methid.

 

Which is why the mod should PM it to the user and the user should verify that it is correct. Once they both agree that it is correct, then the content of the information should be no different than if they had spent the time to send it all back and forth via PM, and it would then be all in one place as opposed to numerous separate messages.

Kimball Kinnison

 

With PMs, they are automatically recorded. With IMs, I can hear it now because I do it all the time. "Whoops, I closed the IM before copying the text" or "Whoops, I guess my transcript setting was off because I can't find the transcript." And now we're up Chocolate Creek without a popsicle stick.

 

Thanks KK - glad someone gets what I'm trying to say

I'd suggest sending the PM with the chat log before closing the window to ensure that all information is captured. Even if the log is lost, the initial contact has been made, and information can be retyped into a PM to the mod.

I'm not suggesting this as a recommended way to hold/log important information, merely opening it up as an OPTION to make sure that we (um, you) are as accessible as possible.

 

Hey, I beat you to it by almost an hour, if you go back and look at my response to LAJ_FETT. So, technically, you're the one getting what I'm trying to say.

Exactly. No one is saying that you have to use IM.

Back when I was a mod, I had my IM information available in my profile. (I actually still have some of it there.) I encouraged people who saw me online to use that as a way to contact me immediately in the case of problems, because if you're reading a long page you don't always get PMs immediately. If someone was reporting something that I needed "on the record", I would make sure to ask them to PM me the information as well, or I would send them a PM of the form "Regarding our IM conversation" with a summary of the discussion. (I admit that if it was something more public, I didn't usually need the record, especially in a case of the "Could you look at this post" type of problems. However, when asked to do things like log in to read PMs, I always got permission on the record via PM.)

That's the same thing that I have been told to do at work when I have a phone conversation and need to have a record of it. I'll send the person I was talking to an email with a summary of the discussion and reviewing what we decided, or what they asked me to do. It's a well established business practice, and it's something that can be easily adapted to work in this case as well.

Kimball Kinnison

 

[Just a simple thank you to the MS for doing this. ]

 

Is the sexual harassment policy sticky in the JCC a permanent addition?

 

It's pointless to have it, when there's a permanent link to it on the top bar (I don't know what the hell it's called).

2008: The 50th season of L.A. Dodger baseball

2007-2008 L.A. Lakers: At least they beat expectations!

 

I'm sure you can manage for thirty days to ignore a sticky on an internet message board, Tunick. Geez.

 

I'm no fan of Comms discussion getting plonked as a sticky into the JCC... and having the phrase 'Sexual Harassment' at the top of the board isn't a particularly pleasant sight. I like Comms to protect the JCC and keep it entirely fun. However, in these circumstances it's clear that a very obvious showing like the sticky thread is a good idea for a short while. More people will read it and so on.

And besides, even when it's gone as a sticky it won't disappear from view (and mind) as it's nice and prominent in the JC's general header now.

 

Tunick, you force people to look at your hideous red text year-round, so we get to force you to look at a sticky for 30 days.

 

Thanks for taking these things so seriously. I appreciate all of the thought and details that went into this. As someone that's been harassed in real life, it's nice to see definite steps to try to prevent it from happening here.

 

Perhaps that's an indicator of how serious the issue is? Ever thought about that?

 

Tunick takes the aesthetics of the JCC very seriously.

 

JCC. Serious business.



Personally, I think this policy is being presented to the JC at large in the best way possible.

 

It's needless repetition. It would be akin to having two handles on a toilet.

2008: The 50th season of L.A. Dodger baseball

2007-2008 L.A. Lakers: At least they beat expectations!

 

It's not needless repetition, Tunick. It's a new policy that is being shown in all forums to drive the point home. If they didn't make it a sticky now to draw attention to it, those who were not in Comms when the **** went down would have no idea. I mean, who notices what the options in the header are?


It'll be gone in 30 days. It's not permanent. It couldn't possibly be harming your posting pleasure. Just suck it up and get over it, k?

 

It's not, and I'm suprised over the over reaction to my opinion on this.

2008: The 50th season of L.A. Dodger baseball

2007-2008 L.A. Lakers: At least they beat expectations!

 

I just came back from vacation, and this is such a welcome surprise.

I'm glad to see the issue has been resolved, and that the Comms discussion helped bring it about.





Good work, everyone who participated!

 

I think this policy is a good start, but it's still a bit thin. A few things to consider here- all from an business and Human Resources standpoint:

First of all, you need to have a good, clear definition of Sexual Harassment that can serve as a guideline to Mods, RSA's, and Admins who may find themselves in the position of dealing with these situations, and it may help the victims of harassment come forward by stating the prohibited behavior clearly instead of leaving them wondering if someone crossed the line or if they're taking it the wrong way. (I'd recommend starting with the EEOC's definition for workplace harassment and tailor it to cover the needs here at TF.N.) Also, the definition needs to include the types of behaviors constituting sexual harassment.

The complaint procedure is fine, but there needs to be more definition of actions taken against those who are found guilty of sexual harassment, as well as those who are found guilty of making false accusations of sexual harassment. Also, I'd recommend an extremely strong stance in situations involving anyone who is a minor, to include the involvement of law enforcement. With the serious problem of sexual predators on the internet, if someone is preying on our younger users here at TF.N, then there's probably a good chance they're preying on other minors on the internet. As the father of two young daughters who love playing online, I'd hate to think that someone who was busted for sexually harassing minors on one website was never reported, and left free to do the same on another website. I think we have a responsibility to the community at large when situations such as that arise, not just to the online community that is our fandom. (Also, I could forsee potentially devastating consequences- financially and legally- for TF.N if we failed to report a sexual predator and he struck another minor somewhere else.)

It's a crying shame we need this, and even more of a shame that we have to go out and tell folks how to act, but it's an unfortunate necessity.

 

Thank you.

Unfortunately harassment, sexual and otherwise have become ingrained in our societies.

A stand must be taken, and people must be educated that their remarks belittle and harm others.

People must also be empowered, recognizing harassment and realize they do not have to tolerate this manner of bullying.

 

A lot of good points have been brought up about the current policy and we will address those. I'll look at them more closely and see if we need to add any addendums to the policy as we know it now. I just wanted you to know that I'm not ignoring this thread.

 

Very good, glad to see this has taken shape and is being wide spread for the users of the FanForce no matter location such as previous individual attempts. Bravo on uniting on this Mod-dom, bravo.

Especially the information of what qualifies is always wecomed as an ammendum to such a post, as I myself once went 'does this really count or am I parinoid and just misconstruing the line of conversation?' Later if its figured out it normally is ignored because it was 'too' long ago, so perhapes an added statement that even if a past offense let a mod know that way an eye could be kept out for future infarctions by that individual to others.