Anti-Harassment Policy

The Guild is dedicated to providing a safe and harassment-free environment for directors, officers, employees and members, and has a zero-tolerance policy regarding harassment, intimidation, and discrimination. This includes all harassment, intimidation, and discrimination made on the basis of race, age, sex, gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, national origin, ancestry, disability, medical condition, religion, class, body size, veteran status, marital/domestic partnership status, citizenship or any other marginalized identity. Harassment includes verbal comments, written comments, displayed images, or behaviors such as deliberate intimidation, stalking, body policing, unwelcome photography or recording, sustained disruption of talks or other events, inappropriate physical contact, and unwelcome sexual attention.

The Guild Anti-Harassment Policy applies to all situations of harassment, intimidation, or discrimination at Guild programs and activities and is applicable to all Guild events and all Guild venues, including but not limited to Guild events, conferences, meetings, meet-ups, critique groups, and online interactions. Harassment, intimidation, and discrimination at any Guild event, any one of the foregoing events, or on-line is prohibited.

Code of Conduct

All participants in Guild events and activities, including faculty, staff, and attendees, are required to comply with the following anti-harassment code of conduct. This Code prohibits harassment, including but not limited to the following behaviors:

• Deliberate intimidation, stalking, or following.
• Sustained disruption of talks or other events.
• Inappropriate physical contact.
• Unwelcome sexual attention.
• Abusive verbal comments.
• Quid pro quo harassment – meaning the type of harassment that occurs when one in a position of authority requests sex or a sexual relationship in exchange for professional consideration or favors.

Harassment is not deemed to include respectful disagreement or reasonable and respectful critique made in good faith. The Guild continues to welcome and appreciate presentation of controversial ideas, free speech, and creative artistic expression. The Guild encourages members to hold one another accountable to this Code of Conduct and to take the perspectives of others seriously when a disagreement arises.

Reporting Procedures

Any person who believes there has been a violation of the Guild’s Anti-Harassment Policy can report the offense in one or all of the following ways:

• A complainant may request assistance from any Guild officer or employee.

• A complainant may report a violation to the Guild’s general email address:  staff@authorsguild.org. Such reports can be submitted anonymously or with identifying information. They should include the substance of the complaint, date, and whenever possible, a list of witnesses or a reference to the relevant URLs, if the offense occurred online. Emails will be monitored at all times, including during Guild events. The Guild will fully investigate all complaints, including those made anonymously, and take whatever action is necessary and appropriate to prevent a recurrence. Please note however, that the Guild will not be able to follow up on an anonymous report with the complainant directly, since the Guild will not have contact information for the anonymous complainant. The Guild will make every attempt to respond to a named complainant in a timely fashion.

 Non-Retaliation

The Guild’s Anti-Harassment Policy prohibits retaliation for reporting harassment, intimidation or discrimination, or for participating in an investigation relating to any complaint made. The sanctions for retaliation are the same sanctions available to address any other violation of the Guild’s Anti-Harassment Policy.

 Sanctions

The Guild takes all allegations of harassment seriously. Every report will be investigated by Guild staff (including one or more members of its in-house legal staff). The results of the investigation and the resulting recommendations will be reported to the Executive Director and/or the Guild Council, who will determine the appropriate sanction.

Sanctions for speakers, staff or Council members may include any of the following:

• warning the party involved that the particular behavior is inappropriate and must be ceased;
• immediate removal from the event;
• denial of access to Guild spaces and venues on a temporary or permanent basis;
• denial of access to Guild online Communities and other online activities and fora;
• withholding of a contracted honorarium;
• prohibition from future speaking engagements;
• removal from the Council, when appropriate;
• removal of member website and profile (if any)

Sanctions for attendees, members, and guests can include any of the following:

• warning the party involved that specified behavior is inappropriate and must be ceased;
• immediate removal from the event, without refund;
• denial of access to Guild spaces and venues on a permanent or temporary basis;
• denial of access to Guild online Communities and other online activities and fora;
• removal of member website and profile (if any);
• prohibition of future Guild membership.

Confidentiality

The Guild will make every reasonable effort to conduct all investigations into allegations of harassment, intimidation, or discrimination in a manner that will protect the confidentiality of all parties. Notwithstanding the above, confidentiality is not absolute, and those with a legitimate business reason to know and be informed of the allegations will be so informed. Parties to the complaint should treat the matter under investigation with discretion and respect the reputation of all parties involved.