Procedures for Resolving Complaints Against Staff Members Relating to Discrimination or Misconduct

Non-Retaliation Policy | Good Faith Participation | Support Person | Confidentiality | Complaint Resolution

Swarthmore College is committed to establishing and maintaining a community rich in equality and free from all forms of discrimination, harassment, and misconduct. The College recognizes that all who work and learn at the College are responsible for ensuring that the community is free from all forms of discrimination, harassment, assault, and other forms of staff member misconduct. These behaviors threaten our learning, living, and work environments and will not be tolerated. 

The college provides methods for staff and other college community members to seek prompt, impartial, and balanced assessment of their workplace concerns. These procedures apply to complaints against staff and may be brought by any members of the College community, including students, staff members, and faculty members, or any individuals regularly employed, studying, living, or having any official capacity at the College. For questions regarding this policy, please contact the EO Officer for private initial consultations.

These procedures are used to resolve concerns and complaints regarding: 

• discrimination in violation of the College’s Notice of Non-Discrimination against any staff member. Complaints of discrimination will be resolved by these procedures when the person bringing the complaint has reason to believe the discrimination was based on race, color, age, religion, national or ethnic origin, pregnancy, marital status, medical condition, veteran status, disability in any decision regarding the complainant’s admission to, employment, or involvement in a College program or activity. Complaints of discrimination based on sex or gender, including sexual orientation and gender identity and expression, are resolved according to the College’s Sexual Assault and Harassment Policy.
• other forms of misconduct against any staff member. 

Non-Retaliation Policy

Employees and other community members may use these procedures without fear of retaliation from supervisors or others against whom a complaint may be lodged. Retaliation against any member of the community for good faith participation in these procedures is a violation of College policy. Retaliation will not be tolerated and will be subject to College disciplinary procedures up to and including dismissal. Any violation of this policy should be reported immediately to Human Resources, the EO Officer, or another appropriate College resource person (e.g., Vice President for Human Resources).

Good Faith Participation

The resolution process is dependent upon the willingness of all those involved to participate in good faith, whether as a complainant, respondent, witness, or support person. Accordingly, it is expected that community members will participate in an open, civil, and respectful manner aimed at productive resolution. Should a community member be found to have knowingly and intentionally brought forward a false charge, provided false witness, or in any other way knowingly and intentionally acted to thwart the resolution process, that person will be subject to disciplinary action up to and including dismissal.

Support Person

At any stage of this resolution process, a member of the community  may have a campus support person of their choice—subject to the person’s availability—to attend meetings in order to help the complainant/respondent present their case effectively and to provide moral support. Please note that, since this is an internal campus process, support persons must be Swarthmore College staff or faculty members.

The support person is expected to be a silent and a non-participating observer except to ask for a short break if the staff member requires some time for composure or to collect their thoughts. The support person may communicate with the community member during meetings in a non-disruptive manner. The support person may not delay, disrupt, or otherwise take action to interfere with the integrity of any meeting. The support person, if disruptive, may be required to leave a meeting. The support person is expected to follow the confidentiality guidelines set forth below.

Confidentiality

It is important to recognize that understanding the nature of the complaint and facilitating resolution typically requires speaking with others. This step will be taken only when necessary to resolve the complaint and only with those persons relevant to the resolution of the complaint.

Supervisors, managers, and facilitators of the resolution process are required to maintain the confidentiality of the proceedings, and all other participants in a complaint (i.e., complainant, respondent, interviewees, witnesses,) are encouraged to maintain the confidentiality of the proceedings to ensure an unencumbered resolution.

Complaint Resolution

Employees and Managers are encouraged to attempt to resolve issues relative to performance through direct conversations with each other. If either person needs assistance with such conversation, they should contact the Equal Opportunity Officer for issues relating to discrimination or the Assistant Vice President, Human Resources for issues relating to misconduct. It is best to hold these conversations as close as possible to the time when the action giving rise to your concern arises. 

If you believe you have a concern about a staff member and are uncomfortable approaching the staff member or the staff member’s supervisor directly, you may bring concerns relating to misconduct to the Assistant Vice President, Human Resources. If you believe you have been subjected to discrimination in violation of College policy, you may bring your concern directly to the Equal Opportunity Officer.  Either of these individuals will  thoroughly review the concerns raised in a timely fashion and provide a recommendation regarding effective resolution of the issues at hand. Throughout the process, the College’s commitment to fair and equitable treatment and the prohibition to discriminatory behavior will be paramount. This review will include discussions with parties that are directly involved in the matter, documentation that may be pertinent to the concerns raised, and any other relevant information discovered during the review. The Assistant Vice President, Human Resources or Equal Opportunity Officer will provide timely updates to the complainant and respondent throughout the process.

The Assistant Vice President, Human Resources or Equal Opportunity Officer will take appropriate steps to assess whether an investigation is appropriate. Typically, an investigation is considered appropriate when the resolution may result in disciplinary action, such as in cases alleging a violation of the College’s Notice of Non-Discrimination or violation of another College policy.

When an investigation is appropriate, the Assistant Vice President, Human Resources or the Equal Opportunity Officer  will arrange a prompt, impartial, and thorough investigation of the concern. Depending on the nature of the concern and, if conducted, the outcome of the investigation, the Assistant Vice President, Human Resources or Equal Opportunity Officer may also take other appropriate steps to promptly and equitably assess the complaint, offer interim remedies, and recommend and facilitate a resolution of the concern. 

In cases where discrimination is found, the College will stop the discrimination, prevent its recurrence, and provide appropriate remedies in light of the circumstances. The Equal Opportunity Officer will give the complainant and respondent written notice after initial attempts to resolve the concern have concluded and will share available next steps for resolution and a summary of the outcome.

The recommended resolution may result in a range of measures that are expected to be effective depending upon the results of the review of the complaint and investigation, if one is conducted. Resolution outcomes may include but are not limited to a follow-up meeting to discuss the nature of the complaint and any related College policy, a mediated discussion between the complainant and the responding employee, training for individuals related to the underlying complaint, discipline for a violations of College policy and or expectations, and other measures deemed appropriate by the Assistant Vice President, Human Resources or Equal Opportunity Officer given the circumstances.

If a legitimate conflict of interest exists such that it would be inappropriate for the matter to be brought to the attention of either the Assistant Vice President, Human Resources or the EO Officer, the matter may be brought to the attention of the Vice President for Human Resources, the Vice President for Diversity Equity and Inclusion for matters involving allegations of discrimination or their designee. Whether such a conflict is legitimate is within the sole discretion of the College. A legitimate conflict of interest does not exist where a staff member or manager disagrees with the outcome or resolution.  

In addition to the practices outlined above, employees of the College are encouraged to speak with a member of Human Resources to share any other workplace concerns.

Complaints against Senior Leadership with Faculty Status

When a complaint is brought against the President, Provost, and their designees (who maintain faculty status while in these administrative positions), they are obligated to abide by the same foundational principles of good faith, speedy resolution, and informal consultative as described within the Instructional Staff Grievance Procedure within Section II-C.1 of the Handbook for Instructional Staff.

Resolution of Complaints against the Provost and Dean of the Faculty

Complaints filed against the Provost and Dean of the Faculty may be reviewable under other policies, including but not limited to the College’s policies and procedures for review of formal contractual actions relating to a member of the faculty or the College’sTitle IX Policies; in such circumstances, they will be forwarded as appropriate for action under the appropriate policies. Complaints against the Provost and Dean of the Faculty that do not fall within other College review policies, however, will be forwarded to and addressed separately by the President or their designee.  As part of such review, the President or designee should consult with the Committee on Faculty Procedures. The decision of the President or designee is final.

Resolution of Complaints against the President

Complaints filed against the President will be forwarded to the Chair of the Swarthmore College Board of Managers or their designee. Such complaints will be addressed separately by the Chair of the Board or their designee. The decision of the Chair of the Board is final.