CommonAI Code of Conduct - Reporting Guide

Introduction and Purpose

This Reporting Guide explains how you can report incidents that may violate the CommonAI Code of Conduct, and how such reports are handled.

In summary, if you believe someone is breaching, or has breached, the Code of Conduct you can report this to the CommonAI Code of Conduct team by emailing conduct@commonai.org.

If you believe anyone is in physical danger, you should contact the police or other suitable authorities. The CommonAI Code of Conduct email address is not monitored continuously and is not designed for emergency use.

If a Code of Conduct violation occurs at a CommonAI event such as a conference or workshop and you believe it requires immediate attention, please contact the event organisers for help. If you cannot find one of the organisers, contact the venue staff.

Members of the Code of Conduct team

The members of the Code of Conduct team are appointed by CommonAI and may vary from time to time. Current members are:

Gavin Ferris (CEO, CommonAI CIC)
Michael Munday (Director of Engineering, CommonAI CIC)

Submitting a Report

Reports can be as formal or informal as needed for the situation at hand. Please include as much information as you can, including:

Your contact details (so that the Code of Conduct team can get in touch with you if they need to follow up). Include your email address and, optionally, a phone number.
Names (real, nicknames, or pseudonyms) or descriptions of any individuals involved. If there were other witnesses besides you, please try to include their contact details if you have them, so that the Code of Conduct team can follow up.
When and where the incident occurred. Please be as specific as possible.
Your account of what occurred, with any supporting evidence you may have (screenshots, messages, etc). If there is a publicly available record (e.g. a mailing list archive), please include a link.
Any extra context you believe existed for the incident.
Whether you believe this incident is ongoing.
If you have concerns about retaliation, please note those concerns in your report.
Any other information you believe the Code of Conduct team should be made aware of.

If you are unable to provide all of this information, please still make the report and include as much information as you have.

Reports must be made in good faith, and it is a breach of this Code of Conduct to make a report for an ulterior or vexatious purpose, for example as part of an employment or other dispute. It is open to the Code of Conduct team to impose a resolution on person reporting where it is clearly demonstrated that the report was not made in good faith.

Confidentiality

All reports to the CommonAI Code of Conduct team will be handled confidentially.

Some incidents happen in one-on-one interactions, and although details are anonymised, the reported person may be able to guess who made the report. If you have concerns about retaliation or your personal safety, you should include those concerns in your report. Importantly, if you believe anyone (including yourself) is in physical danger, you should contact the police or other suitable authorities - the CommonAI Code of Conduct email address is not monitored continuously and is not designed for emergency use.

What Happens after you File a Report?

The following is a summary of the steps that the Code of Conduct team takes when responding to a reported incident.

Determine if there is a need for an immediate response.
Acknowledge the report promptly. This acknowledgement should be understanding and compassionate (but please note that no commitment will typically be made at this stage on whether this is a violation or what action will be taken).
Discuss the incident report, gather more information, and ultimately determine a resolution. When discussing the incident report, the Code of Conduct team will try to determine:

a. What happened and who was involved.

b. Whether this event constitutes a Code of Conduct violation.

c. Whether the documentation of past incidents indicates a possible pattern of unacceptable behaviour (if available and applicable).
The Code of Conduct team will follow up with the reported person to get their view or any other additional information. When following up with the reported person, the Code of Conduct team will:

a. Explain that an incident was reported that involves the reported person. In this explanation, the focus will be on the impact of their behaviour, not their intent.

b. Reiterate the Code of Conduct and that their behaviour may be deemed inappropriate.

c. Give them the opportunity to state their view of the incident.

d. Explain the possible resolutions that may be enforced should the Code of Conduct team determine that the Code of Conduct has been breached.

The reported person will be given a period of time to respond (typically 7 days, but this will depend on the circumstances as judged by the Code of Conduct team), with the option to request additional time if needed and subject to approval of the Code of Conduct team.
The Code of Conduct team may also try to contact other parties involved or witnessing the event to gain clarity on what happened and understand different perspectives.
The Code of Conduct team will aim to have a resolution agreed upon within two weeks of receipt of the incident report. In the event that a resolution cannot be determined within that time, the Code of Conduct team will respond to the reporting person with an update and projected timeline for resolution.
The reporting person will be informed of the resolution and feedback will be requested. This feedback may or may not be used to re-evaluate the resolution.
Inform the reported person of the resolution. The reported person is provided options to appeal.
The resolution is implemented.
All reports, data, notes, and resolutions are logged and held by CommonAI CIC in a private location (e.g., Google Drive or other appropriate storage).

Resolutions

As noted above, once the Code of Conduct team has a sufficient account of the events they will make a decision as to how to respond.

The matter will be referred to the CommonAI Board of Directors for resolution where:

the report relates to a member of the Code of Conduct team; and/or
the incident is sufficiently serious that, in the opinion of the Code of Conduct team, it ought to be referred to the CommonAI Board for resolution – this includes any situation where a public statement about the matter may be appropriate; and/or
the Code of Conduct team cannot agree unanimously on a resolution.

Subject to any referral to the CommonAI Board of Directors, it is for the Code of Conduct team to decide a suitable and proportionate response. This may include the following:

No further action, if the Code of Conduct team determines that no violation occurred or it has already been appropriately resolved.
Providing either moderation or mediation to ongoing interactions (where appropriate, safe, and desired by both parties).
A private reprimand from the Code of Conduct team to the reported person and request to stop this behaviour.
A request that the reported person avoid any interaction with, and physical proximity to, another person for the remainder of an event.
Not publishing the video or slides of a talk.
Not allowing a speaker to give (further) talks at CommonAI events for a specified amount of time, or ever.
An imposed pause in participation (e.g., asking someone to “take a week off” from a mailing list or channel).
A public reprimand.
A request for a public or private apology.
A permanent or temporary ban from some or all CommonAI spaces and communication channels (mailing lists, chat, events, etc.).
A permanent or temporary ban from performing a CommonAI or Programme role.
A permanent or temporary removal of access to the individual’s CommonAI account and/or Programme Accounts.
Referral to the reported person’s employer (or other organisation engaging the individual).
Referral to relevant law enforcement.

The CommonAI Board may choose to make a public statement about an incident and its resolution, for example where the incident took place in public or with a significant number of witnesses.

It is also possible that the Code of Conduct team decides that a report is wilfully false, or has otherwise not been made in good faith. Where this is clearly established, the Code of Conduct team may consider imposing a suitable resolution on the person making that report.

Transparency: Reporting to the CommonAI Board

The Code of Conduct team will report resolutions to the CommonAI Board of Directors on a periodic basis, to aid the CommonAI Board in the discharge of its responsibilities and in monitoring the operation of the Code of Conduct and this Reporting Guide.

Appeals

Only permanent resolutions (such as bans) or requests for public actions may be appealed.

To appeal a decision of the Code of Conduct team, contact the CommonAI Board at board@commonai.org with your appeal and the Board will review the case. This process is intended to consider new or different evidence from the initial incident investigation, or the process outlined above has not been followed. The email should include evidence related to the incident to support the appeal. Appeals can be requested up to 30 calendar days after a resolution has been communicated to the person appealing. The decision of the CommonAI Board on any appeal is final.

Rights

The CommonAI Code of Conduct and Reporting Guide is not intended to create any legal rights or liability for any person. The relationship between CommonAI and its Members is governed by their membership agreements, and Members are legally responsible for ensuring that their representatives comply with this Code of Conduct.