Publishing a Code of Conduct isn't enough

Wed, 13 Jul 2022 16:24:03 -0400

Elphie wearing her "I bark at bigots" pawkerchief I've seen more and more events & communities adopt Codes of Conduct. Even local events, local user groups, and smaller online communities are adopting Codes of Conduct. That's GREAT! ...but it's just a great start. It's not that easy.

Discoverability

The issue of discoverability is common, but easy to fix. Let’s look at a specific scenario. An event publishes a Code of Conduct, and has attendees agree to it when they sign up to attend. That’s all great. But during the event someone experiences, witnesses, or hears about behavior that sounds like a Code of Conduct violation. They didn’t think it would happen to them–even though they read & agreed to the Code of Conduct, they don’t have it memorized and need to go find it. Where do they find it?

What's important in a code of conduct?

Fri, 26 Jun 2020 11:14:10 -0400

Earlier this week, I published a post about a proposed Tech Community Equality Index, and used it to grade the largest organization in the data community, PASS.

One of the areas where I was critical of PASS is that their Anti-Harassment Policy (AHP) is not trans-inclusive, as it does not protect gender identity or expression. The PASS AHP is limited to “gender, race, sexual orientation, disability, religion, or any other protected classification,” and unfortunately that doesn’t include protections for trans folks. What this text implies is, “if the law doesn’t protect you, we don’t protect you.” I don’t think that is PASS’s intent, but rather a bug in their implementation. In the US, the Supreme Court recently ruled in Bostock v Clayton County, GA that employment discrimination based on sexual orientation (including transgender folks) is a protected class under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but this only applies to workplace discrimination in the United States, and doesn’t cover non-work events nor international events. Additionally, the PASS policy makes the AHP optional for SQLSaturday, and provides no guidance or mechanism for local user groups to adopt their AHP.

Code of Conduct on Andy M Mallon - AM²

Publishing a Code of Conduct isn't enough

Discoverability

What's important in a code of conduct?