This document aims to present the way ChiPy handles received reports. This is not a complete guide, but a set of guidelines and best practices that advise the way we provide support to the community. Each issue is different and requires individual consideration on a case-to-case basis.
All reports sent to the conduct hotline email address are automatically forwarded to the on-call receivers of complaints.
It is possible for a member to receive a report individually via email, Slack or in-person. The member will be responsible for compiling an incident report and emailing the report to the central email account where possible (i.e. there is no conflict of interest).
Throughout the process we intend to keep confidential any information on the reporter or subject of the report as information is gathered. If necessary, we may need to share identity or activity information more broadly. In that case we will pursue every avenue to alert the affected persons prior to the release and ensure any information is shared in a limited and effective way. An ideal resolution has an effective and mutually agreed upon remediation (for the organization and the reporter) while ensuring maximum privacy and discretion.
In order to achieve a fast response time to received reports, we implement a month long on-call duty that is rotated between members of the Conduct Committee. On the first meeting of each month, we assign one member to be the primary person on duty and another member to be a secondary supporter. The committee roster and the schedule is managed via On Call Roster.
Primary person on duty is responsible for providing the initial response to a reporter, ideally within half a day. They're also responsible for either shepherding the received issue, or finding another member of the committee who will commit to shepherding it.
Secondary person on duty inherits the responsibilities of the primary person if they're not available.
If all else fails, any member of the committee can step in and pick up an issue if they see that response hasn't been provided within a day.
We aim to provide the initial response and acknowledgement of the received report ideally within a couple of hours, or half a day.
If the response requires a decision, an acknowledgement of the report (and carbon-copy the main address) will be sent to make sure the reporter is informed of the case status:
Hi X,
Thank you so much for reporting this issue to the ChiPy Code of Conduct Committee. I appreciate you taking the time to get in touch - reports like this help us to make ChiPy a better community.
We will discuss and get back to you with the outcome, and will keep this report on file. Meanwhile, if there is anything else we can do to help or support you, please do let us know.
Regards, > [First_name Last_name] > ChiPy Code of Conduct Committee
If the received report clearly states that the action has been taken already, and the issue is only reported to be kept on file in our central log, the committee can close the issue by sending a simple acknowledgement:
Hi [X],
Thank you so much for reporting this issue to the ChiPy Code of Conduct Committee. I appreciate you taking the time to get in touch - reports like this help us to make ChiPy a better community. The action you've taken so far seems appropriate, and I'd like to thank you for handling the issue with care.
We're going to keep this report on file to look for patterns in the future across the community. If there is anything else we can do to help or support you, please do let us know.
Thank you again!
Regards, > [First Last name] > ChiPy Code of Conduct Committee
The first responder should also add a record of the report in our files.
We aim to resolve any report received within two-weeks.
In order to resolve reports timely and efficiently, we use "shepherding", a practice of assigning a member of the committee to "own" an issue from the initial report until it is resolved. The shepherd does not have to be the person who is on duty that week. A member can suggest themselves as a shepherd for an issue, but must take into consideration:
-
Biases - If the shepherd has any bias towards the issue (such as knowing the people involved in the issue), then the shepherd should make these biases known to the rest of the committee immediately. Whether or not the bias may affect the outcome of the issue should be discussed by the committee, and a new shepherd should be picked if this is the case.
-
Time - Handling issues is very important, the shepherd should be aware that resolving the issue is a high priority. It is the responsibility of the shepherd to see that each stage of the process is acted upon in a timely manner, and any delays be addressed. If the shepherd is busy for reasons outside of the committee, they need to alert the rest of the committee of this. If there is a delay during the process due to some external reason, it is the responsibility of the shepherd to alert the committee of this delay.
When a shepherd is assigned, if it is different to the initial responder, the initial responder should send an update:
Dear [X],
I'm writing in regard to your recent report to the ChiPy Code of Conduct Committee. I wanted to let you know that we have assigned the case to [Y], who will be your main point of contact going forward. [Y]'s email address is [E]. If you have any questions or concerns with this, please let me know.
Regards, > [First Last name] > ChiPy Code of Conduct Committee
Assuming no questions or concerns, this marks the completion of the initial responder's responsibilities for this case. If the reporter does have concerns or questions, the first responder should ask the committee to resolve these.
The process with which decisions are made differ slightly between issues, due to the fact that each issue is slightly different. However, there is a loosely defined set of stages that are present in each issue.
-
Shepherd nomination - The committee decides on a shepherd for the issue.
-
Contacting the reporter - The shepherd should contact the reporter letting them know they are the point of contact between the reporter and the committee, and will be available for the reporter if they have any questions. Based on the initial report, the shepherd may choose to ask for more information about the report at this time.
-
Initial discussion - The committee conducts a discussion into the report in order to understand the issue. During this time, the committee should aim to decide the severity of the issue and the appropriate next steps. This could be:
- Contacting the reporter for additional information.
- Researching the issue if there is additional evidence online or in written form.
- Contacting additional persons involved in the report.
- Contacting any official bodies (such as the Django Software Foundation or Python Software Foundation) if the committee feels they can provide extra information.
- Seeking legal advice.
Regardless of the actual steps taken at this stage, the aim is the gather a clear understanding of the issue, what occurred, who is involved, and what is the severity of the issue.
- Deciding actions - Based on the evidence, the shepherd should propose to the committee the actions that should be taken to resolve the issue. The shepherd requires at least two members of the committee to agree on these actions. If the issue is severe enough to warrant group-level action (such as a ban from future events or removal from electronic services or legal action), the committee is responsible for providing a confidential report to the ChiPy Organizers and initiate a motion for the intended action.
Once the committee has made its decision, the following takes place:
-
Carrying out actions - The shepherd performs or delegates the actions agreed upon by the committee, the first of which should be to inform the reporter of the decision made by the committee. The actions can sometimes involve contacting individuals involved in the issue. For these actions, we recommend the shepherd write a draft and share it with the committee before it is sent to the individual in order to check that necessary information is conveyed clearly and objectively.
-
Ongoing actions - As a result of conducting the actions, the issue may not resolve straight away. Based on further developments, the shepherd should continue to share the developments and work with the committee to decide on the actions that need to be taken in response.
-
Resolving - Once the actions are implemented and the issue feels resolved, it is the responsibility of the shepherd to:
- contact the reporter about the final resolution, and that the committee considers the case closed until new information comes to light.
- inform the committee that the issue is considered resolved
- update the reports file with a summary of:
- actions taken
- outcome
- review date
If the issue was already resolved by local representatives handling Code of Conduct issue, our committee doesn't carry the responsibility of informing the subject of the report that the record will be kept by us unless there is a clear reason why we would like to follow up to find out their side of the story.
This guide was borrowed almost-entirely from the excellent Django Code of Conduct Report Handling Procedure. We remain extemely grateful for their thorough, transparent example.