Code of Conduct

Code of Conduct

It is our policy that all participants are able to enjoy a safe environment that is free from discrimination and harassment. The CfA is committed to making its meetings, workshops and events productive and enjoyable for everyone, regardless of race, ethnicity, cultural background or tradition, religious affiliation, biological sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, or physical or mental ability.

Expected Behavior

All event participants must follow these guidelines for expected behavior:

• Be considerate and respectful of others – We gather to be present and exchange our ideas. Please be the audience that you would like to have as a speaker. Do not insult or put down other attendees. Critique ideas rather than individuals. Critiques of ideas must be phrased respectfully. Please be attentive and participate in a respectful manner, and avoid being disruptive when people are speaking. Give other people the opportunity to speak and ask questions.

• Communication should be appropriate for a diverse audience – All communication should be appropriate for a professional audience, including people of many different backgrounds. Be mindful of your wording and your tone. Members of the audience may process information differently. For some members of the audience, English may not be their first language.

Unacceptable Behavior

• Sexist, racist, or exclusionary comments or jokes are not appropriate. Unacceptable behavior includes, but is not limited to comments related to race, ethnicity, cultural background or tradition, religious affiliation, biological sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, age, physical disability or mental disability.

• Sexual or sexist comments, language and imagery is not appropriate.

• Bullying, harassment, intimidation, and personal attacks are not acceptable.

The definitions of bullying, harassment, intimidation and personal attacks are provided below in italics, as defined in the Oxford English Dictionary.

Bullying: To behave in an overbearing, intimidating, or aggressive manner towards someone; usually to seek to harm, intimidate, or coerce, especially persistently or repeatedly. In the workplace, bullying includes repeated behavior that offends, degrades, insults, or humiliates another person or group.

Harassment: Unwarranted speech or behavior causing annoyance, alarm, distress, or intimidation, usually occurring persistently over a period of time. Harassment creates a work environment that can be intimidating, hostile, or offensive. Offensive conduct may include, but is not limited to, offensive jokes, slurs, epithets or name calling, physical assaults or threats, intimidation, ridicule or mockery, insults or put-downs, offensive objects or pictures, and interference with work performance.

Intimidation: To render timid, inspire with fear; in modern use especially to force to or deterfrom some action by threats or violence. Intimidation may cause a loss of courage or self-confidence. Intimidation can include threats or physical violence, yelling or screaming, ridiculing or insulting a member in front of coworkers or clients, sabotaging a member's work, interference in or prevention of the member's ability to work, insulting or demeaning others in the presence of colleagues or clients, repeated and/or sustained disruption of talks or other events run or presented by a member. Persistent or repeated intimidation can be a form of bullying or harassment.

Personal attacks: An instance of vehemently expressed antagonism or hostility, or of action intended to undermine or disrupt; especially an instance of fierce public criticism. Personal attacks can include individual derogatory statements made about a person including, but not limited to, damaging remarks relating to a member's lifestyle or choices. These types of attack can include derogatory comments that question a person's intelligence, values, integrity, motivations or decisions. Ongoing, repeated personal attacks may be classified as intimidation, harassment or bullying, depending on the intent and effect on the victim.

Reporting Unacceptable Behavior

Anyone who wishes to report unacceptable behavior is asked to speak to a meeting organizer or the HR staff of the CfA.

Breaches of this Conduct Policy

Immediate action will be taken against individuals found to be engaging in behavior prohibited by this policy. These actions may include verbal warnings, ejection from the meeting or activity without refund of registration fees and the reporting of behavior to their supervisor, leadership, and/or HR department of their employer, depending on the scope of the behavior.