IETF Ombudsteam Procedures

See RFC 7776, Section 2 for definitions of terms used in this document.

Intake

• If a report is received by the Ombudsteam, the Ombudsteam shall confer and choose a Lead Ombudsperson (LO) for the case.
• If a report is received by a particular Ombudsperson, they are assigned to be the LO unless, after discussion with the rest of the Ombudsteam, the LO needs to be recused from the case or the LO is for other reasons unable to act as LO. Reasons for recusal include, but are not limited to, that the Ombudsperson is one of the leaders of a WG associated with the case or that the Ombudsperson has collaborated closely with the Respondent or Reporter and feels there is potential for conflict of interest. A change in LO due to recusal or other inability to handle a case should be approved by the Reporter after a one-on-one discussion with the Reporter.
• After a LO is chosen to handle a particular harassment report, the LO shall first discuss with the Reporter the general nature of the potential harassment.
• The LO will first determine whether the report is related to the IETF. If it isn't, the LO will explain this to the reporter and will not open a case. Since the Ombudsteam email alias receives a considerable amount of spam, emails that are not related to harassment in the context of an IETF activity might not be responded to.
• If the LO is concerned about any threat of imminent harm, or that there is a likelihood that the investigation may be compromised, the LO may choose to implement some preliminary interim actions at this time including possible separation from or temporary removal of the Respondent, contacting local law enforcement, and taking steps to secure investigatory materials. If there is an individual Subject, their wishes should be taken into consideration regarding the need for such preliminary interim actions.
• The LO shall determine from discussion with the Reporter whether the report constitutes harassment or whether it would be best handled by other procedures (e.g., discussion with a chair or AD, etc.). Harassing speech or behavior may be “sexually aggressive or intimidating based on attributes such as race, gender, religion…” etc., as described in the Anti-Harassment policy, or it may fall under some other established category, which the Ombudsteam will discuss among themselves when making a determination.
• If the LO determines that the case is better handled by other procedures and does not need further Ombudsteam involvement, the case shall be closed. For example, most reports of incidents on public mailing lists will be referred to the administrators of those lists, because they can act publicly and more rapidly than the Ombudsteam.
• If the case was a request for advice from the Ombudsteam, the LO will provide advice as best they can, and then close the case. Note that the Ombudsteam cannot provide expert advice outside of its scope; for example, the Ombudsteam cannot provide legal advice and will refer such requests to the IETF LLC.
• If the Subject (or the Reporter in the absence of an individual Subject) requests the LO to assist with any sort of informal discussion with the Respondent, the LO may do so at their discretion. However, if this happens, and a formal investigation is subsequently requested, a new LO must be selected to handle that investigation. The Subject (or the Reporter in the absence of an individual Subject) should be advised of this prior to the LO facilitating any such informal discussions.
• If a formal investigation is requested and the Reporter is not the Subject of the harassment, the Reporter will be treated simply as a witness going forward. If there is an individual Subject, the LO shall contact the Subject and confirm their permission to go forward with the formal investigation. If permission is not granted, the case shall be closed.

Investigation

• Once a formal investigation is commenced, the normal order of witness interviews shall be with the Subject (or the Reporter in the absence of an individual Subject), then other witnesses, then the Respondent, and finally any additional witnesses that come to light after discussion with the Respondent. The aim is to limit the number of times any given witness needs to be interviewed as much as possible.
• Witnesses should be given as little information as possible in order to maintain confidentiality of all parties.
• The LO may decide to limit or not interview the Respondent if there are concerns about violence or other compelling reasons.
• Interviews of all participants should take place in a safe, comfortable, and private environment to the extent possible. If remote interviews are required, secure video is preferred. The LO should conduct the interview, but they may invite a second Ombudsperson to participate in the interview with assistance taking notes or simply as a second set of ears.
• The LO should remind interviewees of the Ombudsteam processes, particularly reminding the parties that the Ombudsteam keeps all information confidential, that the procedure requires non-retaliation, and that all parties are asked to keep all information they receive confidential.
• All interviews should be completed as promptly as possible.
• At the conclusion of the formal investigation, the LO shall make a determination as to whether harassment has taken place. If so, the LO may still determine that other IETF procedures apply and invoke them. Otherwise, they will determine an appropriate Remedy to prevent the harassment from occurring in the future.
• The LO may consult with one or more members of the Ombudsteam to assist with making the determination of harassment or appropriate procedures or remedies.
• A summary of the conclusions of the investigation and the remedy will be prepared in writing and provided to the Subject and the Respondent.

Remedies

• See RFC 7776, Section 5 for a discussion of remedies the Ombudsteam can take on the conclusion of a formal investigation.
• The LO shall be responsible for making sure any actions required for enforcing a remedy take place including assuring that the Secretariat or other parties undertake any actions they need to implement. These third parties must be told only the minimum required to take the required action; the details of the case and the reasons for taking the action should not be revealed.
• If a remedy fails (for instance, it fails to prevent harassment from reoccurring), the new remedy will take into account the previous remedy's lack of success.

Post Close

• A note should be made in the Ombudsteam spreadsheet (see Documentation).
• Case summaries from formal investigations shall be kept in secure storage.

Documentation

• Rough notes may be taken by an Ombudsperson during the course of an investigation in order to help prepare a case summary for the investigation and to review prior to review of any disputes (if any) with an Ombudsteam decision. Such notes will be kept confidentially by the Ombudsperson and will only be retained for up to a year past the completion of the investigation to allow time for dispute resolution, and in case of legal action. After that time, such notes should be destroyed.
• A secure storage platform for documents that will be held for a longer term will be provided by the LLC for the Ombudsteam.
• Case summaries prepared after formal investigations must be kept indefinitely on the secure storage platform.
• A spreadsheet will be kept on the secure storage platform for all contacts with the Ombudsteam. Information in the spreadsheet is mostly for keeping historical statistics regarding reports, and to detect patterns of behavior. It shall minimize anything that could potentially identify the Subject or Reporter (and the Respondent if the Ombudsteam determines harassment did not occur), but may contain information sufficient for an Ombudsperson to recall particulars in case a new report comes in regarding the same parties, given that the Ombudsperson’s personal notes are not retained permanently as per the requirements above.

Communications

• Intra-team communication regarding solely administrative matters may be done by email.
• Intra-team communications regarding a report of harassment will either be via Signal, via encrypted voice applications or telephone, or in person.
• All communications with parties to a report (with the exception of initial replies to reports and other purely administrative messages that are sent via email) will use a secure mechanism to the extent feasible. Signal is preferred for all communications, but other encrypted communications (e.g., encrypted email, WhatsApp) are preferred for written communication, and encrypted voice applications or telephone may also be used for voice communication. In case parties refuse to engage over a particular communication channel, the Ombudsteam will endeavor to accommodate to a reasonable extent.
• If an Ombudsperson is recused from any particular case, they will not be part of any discussion of that case with the rest of the Ombudsteam.

Statistics

• The Ombudsteam will periodically (between once per plenary meeting and yearly) share statistics on reports with the community.
• This should include no more information than the numbers of reports, the number that were handled by informal advice and counsel, the number that were handled by formal investigation, and the number of appeals. The fastest, slowest, and average handling time for cases may also be reported.

Ombudsteam