Hi Phil
It’s a good point and also raises another one for me. Are Dr Crocker and the other Board members covered under the ICANN staff policy
on Sexual Harassment or would they be covered under a community ICANN attendee policy?
Donna
From:
owner-council@gnso.icann.org [mailto:owner-council@gnso.icann.org]
On Behalf Of Phil Corwin
Sent: Wednesday, 6 April 2016 9:33 AM
To: James M. Bladel <jbladel@godaddy.com>; GNSO Council List <council@gnso.icann.org>
Subject: [council] RE: For Discussion: GNSO Letter to Akram Atallah re: ICANN Harassment Policy
Thinking about this a bit more – how would this incident be treated under any proposed Harassment Policy?
http://domainincite.com/18772-icann-53-launches-with-risky-caitlyn-jenner-joke
Some found it offensive, and an apology was issued by Chairman Crocker. Is that sufficient or would reporting and investigation be required?
Philip S. Corwin, Founding Principal
Virtualaw LLC
1155 F Street, NW
Suite 1050
Washington, DC 20004
202-559-8597/Direct
202-559-8750/Fax
202-255-6172/Cell
Twitter: @VlawDC
"Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey
From: Phil Corwin
Sent: Wednesday, April 06, 2016 12:07 PM
To: 'James M. Bladel'; GNSO Council List
Subject: RE: For Discussion: GNSO Letter to Akram Atallah re: ICANN Harassment Policy
Colleagues:
I support in principle sending a letter to Akram on this subject and establishing clearer, enforceable policies regarding sexual and other forms
of harassment that may take place at ICANN meetings.
However, while I am strongly opposed to any form of such harassment, I have some concerns about the proposed draft Harassment Policy, relating to:
·
This very extensive list of potential offenses being non-exclusive (indicated by the words “At a minimum” that start the document)
·
The use of the modifier “Offensive” at the start of sections 1-4, in that this subjective standard inevitably raises the question “offensive
to whom”? In this regard, I think there must be some element of intent to harass or demean in the behavior subject to sanction, and that any policy should recognize that the cultural diversity of ICANN meeting attendees may lead to situations where remarks
that are not intended to offend may nonetheless do so.
·
A need to strictly define, and limit, the “prompt, appropriate remedial action” that ICANN staff may take if they determine that harassment
has occurred (as well as whether ICANN staff are the appropriate parties to undertake such investigations, and whether the investigatory and judgmental/sanctioning roles should be separate).
·
Contradictory language regarding whether an individual who believes that he/she has witnessed harassment should report it, or must
report it.
I look forward to engaging in a discussion of these matters on our call of April 14th.
Best regards, Philip
Philip S. Corwin, Founding Principal
Virtualaw LLC
1155 F Street, NW
Suite 1050
Washington, DC 20004
202-559-8597/Direct
202-559-8750/Fax
202-255-6172/Cell
Twitter: @VlawDC
"Luck is the residue of design" -- Branch Rickey
From:owner-council@gnso.icann.org
[mailto:owner-council@gnso.icann.org]
On Behalf Of James M. Bladel
Sent: Monday, April 04, 2016 7:46 PM
To: GNSO Council List
Subject: [council] For Discussion: GNSO Letter to Akram Atallah re: ICANN Harassment Policy
Council Colleagues —
Attached and copied below, please find a draft letter from the Council to Akram Atallah, in response to his recent blog post (“Conduct at ICANN Meetings” https://www.icann.org/news/blog/conduct-at-ICANN-meetings).
In this note, I set out to make some high-level points that support further work in this area, without weighing in on any specific indecent. Also,
the letter references a statement from the NCUC ExCom (“Statement from NCUC Executive Committee” http://lists.ncuc.org/pipermail/ncuc-discuss/2016-March/018488.html)
and the ICANN Harassment Policy drafted by our volunteers (attached), and urges any future effort to consider these materials.
If possible, please review these documents prior to our next call on 14 APR. We can collect edits and then decide if/how we want to proceed.
Thank you,
J.
Akram Atallah
COO and interim CEO, ICANN
Dear Akram –
On behalf of the GNSO Council, we would like to thank your for your recent blog post (“Conduct at ICANN Meetings”). Members of the Council, and
all of the GNSO Stakeholder Groups and Constituencies, share the goal of ensuring that all members of the community can participate in and contribute to ICANN, in an environment where harassment and discrimination are not tolerated.
Without passing judgment on any specific incident, we are encouraged by the commitment from Staff and the Board to engage the community on this subject.
In support of this, volunteers on the Council have prepared a draft (“ICANN Conference Harassment Policy”, attached). Several questions remain open, however, including:
?
Whether this Policy would enhance, or be distinct from, the existing Expected Standards of Behavior policy
?
Whether complaints would be reported to ICANN Staff, or the Office of the Ombudsman, or some other entity or group
?
How the policy will be enforced, and
?
Other topics and questions that will arise from this work.
We expect that members of the GNSO community will be engaged in this effort, and note that some have already undertaken work in their own groups (“Statement from NUCU
Executive Committee”). We urge this group to consider these materials in any community undertaking to develop new policy addressing this issue.
Thank you
Donna Austin, GNSO Vice-Chair
James Bladel, GNSO Chair
Heather Forrest, GNSO Vice-Chair
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