Enforcement of the ACL Anti-Harassment Policy — Implementation

Revision of 2018-08-07

Background

In 2016, ACL adopted an anti-harassment policy, based on that of NAACL, for its conferences: https://aclweb.org/adminwiki/index.php?title=Anti-Harassment_Policy

The present document sets out a framework for enforcement of this policy, with procedures to follow if complaints are raised under the policy. The goals are:

1. Identify the roles required within ACL to properly handle complaints, both in the case of behavior at conferences and other ACL events and in the case of behavior online or other ACL-related situations.
2. Lay out procedures so that the people charged with handling complaints have guidance as to what action to take.
3. Ensure that the procedures give the policy "teeth" — otherwise, it won't serve its stated function of making sure that ACL events provide fora for "open exchange of ideas, the freedom of thought and expression, and respectful scientific debate".
4. Ensure that the procedures are set up to protect the privacy of individuals involved, to the extent possible and reasonable.
5. Provide due process and fairness for both complainants and respondents.

Terminology

Complainant: A person who brings a complaint under the anti-harassment policy.

Respondent: A person who is named in such a complaint as having violated the policy.

Professional Conduct Committee (PCC): The (new) committee of the ACL charged with responding to complaints.

Exec: The ACL Executive Board.

Preparation

1. Local organizers of a conference will collect information about how to contact local emergency services (police, fire, ambulance). We mention this in this document because in extreme cases, calling the police may be the appropriate response. This information should also be included in the conference handbook, as it is relevant in general (not just for cases of harassment that rise to the level of needing police intervention).
2. The registration form should ask for email and phone contact information that will allow ACL staff to contact attendees during the conference if necessary, and indicate that such contact information will not be published or shared beyond the ACL staff and committee members. (This is useful for organizers quite apart from the issues dealt with here.)
3. The Exec will bootstrap the PCC by appointing a person or persons as initial chair(s) to organize an initial call for members, training, etc.
4. The initial chairs will develop an incident reporting form, and will recruit a group of ACL members to serve on the Professional Conduct Committee.
5. The ACL will provide mediation training and other appropriate training (by bringing in outside trainers to ACL) to members willing to serve on the PCC.
6. A statement of possible consequences and how they are decided will be attached to the registration form for all ACL-sponsored events, so that registrants are aware of these (as well as the anti-harassment policy itself) at the time of registration. This statement should also include a statement of what information is maintained and by whom. Suggested text:

"Conduct that violates the ACL's anti-harassment policy may lead to sanctions from the ACL including removal from the event without repayment of registration, ineligibility to register for future ACL events, and ineligibility to serve on the ACL Exec or Chapter Boards or to become an ACL Fellow or Lifetime Achievement Award winner. Records of complaints raised and how they are resolved will be maintained by the ACL and accessible to the committee charged with resolving such complaints. Furthermore, information about sanctions applied will be maintained so that ACL office staff can verify whether registrants, invited speakers, and nominees are in fact eligible. The PCC and ACL office staff will act to protect the privacy of both Complainants and Respondents, to the extent feasible."