Section 3.00: MEMBERSHIP

Policy No. 3.06: Harassment and Bullying

Approval Date: July 4, 2021

Final: July 2021

POLICY STATEMENT

CZWKA is committed to promoting an environment in which all members are treated with dignity and respect, free from harassment and bullying. Facilitating a safe environment is the collective responsibility of all individuals. This Policy sets out the minimum expectations for acceptable behaviour for all individuals. CZWKA anticipates and expects that the conduct of all members will exceed these minimum standards.

Any reported behaviour that contravenes this policy is unacceptable and will be investigated and remedied where such contraventions occur. Failure to report a violation of the law or this Policy is in itself a violation of this Policy and may result in disciplinary action.

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DEFINITIONS

Complainant

The individual(s) alleging an infraction or contravention of any of the applicable policies and/or

standards of conduct. This includes any individual acting on behalf of a member, namely in the case of minors.

Respondent

The individual(s) alleged to have engaged in misconduct.

Case Manager

An individual appointed by CZWKA to receive, advise, investigate, and/or direct certain complaints under this Policy. The Case Manager should be a disinterested and neutral individual

and must not be a member of CZWKA.

PERSONAL HARASSMENT

Personal harassment and/or bullying is objectionable conduct or comment, directed towards a specific person, which serves no legitimate purpose and has the effect of creating an intimidating, humiliating, hostile and offensive environment. Personal harassment and bullying includes, but is not limited to:

  • All conduct determined as sexual harassment, which is defined as any unwelcome or unwanted advances, requests for sexual favors and any other verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature.
  • Sexual harassment is conduct that substantially interferes with an individual’s performance or creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive sport environment or where submission to, or rejection of, by an individual is used as a factor in affecting decisions such as inclusion, grading, promotions and team selections.
  • Any conduct that constitutes discrimination under the Canadian Human Rights Act and any applicable provincial legislation.
  • Any conduct or comment that constitutes a violation to the Ethical Code of Conduct.
  • Unwanted actions, derogatory or demeaning comments, jokes or slurs.
  • Derogatory or demeaning images, including digital and analog formats posters, pictures, cartoons, graffiti or drawings.
  • Taunting or ostracizing behaviors, malicious gestures or actions.
  • Verbal aggression, yelling, innuendos, threats or coercion.
  • Humiliating initiation practices or hazing.
  • Spreading malicious rumors.

ATTITIUDINAL HARASSMENT

This consists of the abusive, unfair, or demeaning treatment of a person, or group of persons, that has the effect or purpose of unreasonably interfering with their status, or performance, or creating a hostile or intimidating sport environment, when such treatment:

  • Abuses the power that one person holds over another, or misuses authority.
  • Has the effect or purpose of threatening or intimidating a person.
  • Includes threats, bullying or coercion.

PROCEDURES

REPORTING A COMPLAINT

Any grievance or complaint of harassment or bullying will be reported immediately to a club instructor, or in the case an instructor is named, directly to a member of CZWKA Board of Directors. It is encouraged that initial complaints be made in writing, but a complaint can also be made verbally.

If CZWKA receives a complaint that involves allegations that may be of an illegal nature, such allegations will immediately be reported to the appropriate law enforcement and/or child welfare authorities. In that event, CZWKA will cooperate fully with, and take direction from, the authority with which jurisdiction over the allegations resides.

COMPLAINT RESOLUTION

The first step in resolving a complaint will be to initiate a meeting, if deemed safe for the complainant, between the Complainant, the Respondent and an objective third party. If the grievance remains unresolved or the meeting deemed unsafe, a written complaint will be forwarded to the CZWKA Membership Director within fourteen (14) days of the date on which the initial communication of the complaint occurred.

The Membership Director will appoint a Case Manager to investigate and to resolve the complaint. The Case Manager will reply to the Complainant and to the Respondent, in writing, within fourteen (14) days of receipt of the complaint, confirming reception of the complaint and outlining the steps that will be taken to investigate and to resolve the issue.

For complaints of abuse, harassment, or any other serious complaint thought to require the involvement and expertise of a third-party investigator, CZWKA will engage a qualified external expert to investigate the circumstances of the complaint. The investigator’s findings will be made available to the Case Manager for inclusion in the Case Manager’s Report, and if appropriate, will be shared with the police and other law enforcement officials.

In the case of an alleged abuse by a member of the board of directors is reported, they will be suspended from board duties until the outcome of the investigation is determined.

INVESTIGATION

The Case Manager will conduct an investigation into all allegations concerning the complaint. Information will be gathered on the complaint and include all relevant details. Interviews will be conducted with all persons involved, including the Complainant, the Respondent and witnesses, to provide all involved persons the opportunity to make general observations, comments, and to ask clarifying questions. Additionally, evidence in the form of photographs, handwritten notes, electronic, and any other types of relevant communications submitted will be collected and reviewed.

If a Respondent attempts to circumvent the process by failing to respond to a complaint in a thorough or timely fashion or at all, or if the respondent refuses to participate in the investigation process, the Case Manager shall nonetheless proceed based on the information made available to them by the Complainant and any witnesses interviewed as part of the process.

The process will be fair, impartial, and sensitive to the interests of all parties involved. Confidentiality will be maintained to the extent possible throughout the course of the investigation.

REPORTING

An Investigation Report will be prepared by the Case Manager with clear recommendations to remedy the complaint and determinations with respect to any harassment/bullying violations, unsafe conditions, acts, policies or procedures that might have in any manner contributed to the grievance. The Case Manager’s report will make one of three recommendations:

  1. the complaint should be dismissed as it is unsubstantiated, trivial, or vexatious; or
  2. the complaint is substantiated and should be referred to a Discipline Committee to take appropriate disciplinary and corrective action.
  3. The complaint is substantiated and is beyond the authority of the CZWKA and should be referred the matter to provincial or federal bodies.

The Report is submitted to the Membership Director who will inform the Complainant and Respondent in writing of the results of the investigation and of the recommendations set out in the Case Manager’s Report. Depending on the recommendations found in the Case Manager’s Report, the Membership Director may convene a Discipline Committee, made up of members of the Board of Directors, for appropriate disciplinary and corrective action to be taken.

If applicable, the report will provide recommendations for corrective actions to prevent further bullying and harassment.

DISCIPLINARY ACTIONS

When deciding disciplinary sanctions, the Discipline Committee may consider the following options, singly or in combination, depending on the nature and severity of the harassment:

  • verbal apology;
  • written apology;
  • letter of reprimand from CZWKA;
  • referral to counseling;
  • removal of certain privileges of membership;
  • temporary suspension;
  • expulsion from membership;
  • publication of the decision; and
  • any other sanction that the Panel considers appropriate in the circumstances.

Responsibility of: All Members

Monitored by: Membership Director

References: Canadian Human Right Act, Provincial Human Rights Codes

Policy: 3.04 Ethical Code of Conduct

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