Incident report response procedure

This is a description of what happens when the WordPress global community teamGlobal Community Team A group of community organizers and contributors who collaborate on local events about WordPress — monthly WordPress meetups and/or annual conferences called WordCamps. receives an incident report.

Upon receiving an incident report

1. An incident report response group of between 2-5 people selected from the incident response team will convene to conduct the investigation and determine next steps. The response group’s selection process may change based on the complexity of the issue and the number of complaints in the queue, but anyone on the incident response squad may opt out of joining a response group for personal reasons before the group starts responding to the complaint.
2. Members of the incident response squad may invite other community team program supporters to participate in a response group based on the complexity of the issue and the number of complaints in the queue. If the incident or report may provide a conflict of interest for someone on the incident response squad, that person will be expected to refrain from joining that particular response group. More serious or complex reports will result in a larger response group.
3. Someone on the incident response group will contact the reporter, so they can gather more information if necessary. The responder will also ask what kind of outcome the reporter would like to see from this report. The incident response group may not always be able to meet that request, to ensure other event participants are safe, but it’s taken into account.
4. If there are witnesses to the event(s), the response group reaches out to them privately and asks them to describe what happened.
5. Someone on the response group also contacts the person/people whose behavior is referenced in the report, informs them that a report has resulted in an investigation about their behavior at a specific event, and asks them to recount their recollection of what happened at the event(s) in question.
6. Once the investigation is complete, the response group will determine next steps.
7. The reporter(s) and person/people whose behavior is under scrutiny will be informed of these next steps. Both/either can appeal the decision to a community team repTeam Rep A Team Rep is a person who represents the Make WordPress team to the rest of the project, make sure issues are raised and addressed as needed, and coordinates cross-team efforts., or Josepha Haden Chomphosy, the Executive Director of the WordPress open sourceOpen Source Open Source denotes software for which the original source code is made freely available and may be redistributed and modified. Open Source **must be** delivered via a licensing model, see GPL. project. The appeal must be sent via email no later than 7 days after the date of the emails informing all parties of the decision.
8. If no appeal is made, or after an appeal is settled, next steps will be reported on make/community, with identifying details withheld, either in a quarterly report or a special report, with comments closed.
9. If the person is an organizer of a meetupMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. or WordCampWordCamp WordCamps are casual, locally-organized conferences covering everything related to WordPress. They're one of the places where the WordPress community comes together to teach one another what they’ve learned throughout the year and share the joy. Learn more. in pre-planning or active planning, the meetup group and/or organizing team will be informed that the person has been asked to step away due to not meeting expectations for organizers.

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Possible outcomes

Substantiated reports of single incidents with a serious impact on another event participant (physical assault, racial slurs, sexual harassment, etc.) may result in someone being asked to refrain from participating in official roles (WordPress event organizer, speaker, sponsor, volunteer) (and/or attending meetupsMeetup Meetup groups are locally-organized groups that get together for face-to-face events on a regular basis (commonly once a month). Learn more about Meetups in our Meetup Organizer Handbook. and WordCamps for a certain period of time (between 6 months and 2 years). In the case of someone who repeats unacceptable behavior after already being asked to take a hiatus from the program once, that person may be asked to permanently refrain from participating in official WordPress events.

A report of an incident with a serious impact on another event participant (physical assault, racial slurs, sexual harassment, etc.) that can not be substantiated may still result in someone being asked to refrain from participating in official roles and/or attending meetups and WordCamps for a certain period of time (between 6 months and 2 years). The Global Community Team will err on the side of caution in order to protect event participants from damaging behavior.

Substantiated reports of someone acting in an official role (organizer, speaker, sponsor, volunteer) who engages in undesirable behavior and/or escalates a personal conflict may result in:

1. required mediation, and/or
2. a request to change this behavior, with the understanding that if the behavior recurs, more serious repercussions will follow, and/or
3. the bad actor being asked to refrain from participating in official roles and/or attending meetups and WordCamps for a certain period of time (between 6 months and 2 years).

If the response group determines that a report is false, or that reported behavior does not violate the WordPress global community team code of conductCode of Conduct “A code of conduct is a set of rules outlining the norms, rules, and responsibilities or proper practices of an individual party.” - Wikipedia or fail to match behavioral expectations for people in official roles at official WordPress events, the reporter and the person whose behavior was reviewed will be informed of that decision. That determination can also be appealed, to Angela Jin or a community team rep, if those people were not on the incident response group, or the Executive Director of the WordPress open source project. The appeal must be sent via email no later than 7 days after the date of the emails informing all parties of the decision.

Last updated: August 10, 2023