CEEHRC code of conduct

The Canadian Epigenetics, Environment and Health Research Consortium (CEEHRC) is committed to fostering a welcoming environment that is safe, collaborative, and productive for supporting dialogue and discovery for all attendees, and values the participation of all attendees and participants. All who register to participate, attend, speak at, or exhibit agree to comply with this Policy. CEEHRC expects that all attendees, speakers, organizers, staff, and exhibitors will adhere to the following principles:

Respect common-sense rules for public behavior, personal interaction, courtesy, and respect.
Be considerate and respectful of differing perspectives during the meeting.
Respect the rules and policies of the Network.

What is Harassment?
CEEHRC prohibits any form of harassment, sexual or otherwise, whether directed at other attendees, staff, speakers, exhibitors, or event staff. Among the behaviors that will not be tolerated are:

Intimidation, stalking, harassment, inappropriate contact, unwelcome sexual attention, or discrimination towards fellow attendees, staff, and others.
Abusive, harassing, or threatening behavior towards any other attendee, volunteer, or staff. This behavior will not be tolerated and may result in expulsion from the event.
Yelling at, threatening, or personally insulting participants or presenters (verbally or physically).

Participants asked to stop engaging in hostile or harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately. Behavior that is acceptable to one person may not be acceptable to another, so we ask that you use discretion to ensure that respect is communicated. Harassment intended in a joking manner nevertheless constitutes unacceptable behavior. Retaliation for reporting harassment is also a violation of this policy, as is reporting an incident in bad faith.

Reporting Harassment
Any harassment, whether experienced directly or witnessed, should be reported immediately to a member of the CEEHRC Organizing Committee. Organizing committee members are listed below. All complaints will be taken seriously and responded to promptly. Confidentiality will be maintained to the extent that it does not compromise the rights of others.

Organizing Committee
Steve Bilodeau, Guillaume Bourque, Carolyn Brown, Jocelyn Chen, Annie Ciernia, Jim Davie, Martin Hirst, Steven Jones, Tony Kwan, Serge McGraw, Akshita Puri

Procedures After an Incident is Reported
Once a complaint has been received, we will promptly:

Review the allegation. Note: if any member of the organizing committee were to be named in an allegation, they would be excluded from seeing the information.
Meet privately with the complainant to discuss the details of the situation they encountered.
Meet with the alleged offender, who will be given a chance to respond. If facts are not in dispute, action will be taken by the CEEHRC Executive based on its assessment of the level of misconduct.

In many cases, we hope that a conversation — including a request to understand the negative impact of the behavior and to cease the inappropriate behavior — will be sufficient. However, the Network reserves the right to take additional steps. If the severity of the allegation is high, it is a possible repeat offense, or it is determined that the case is beyond CEEHRC’s capacity to assess claims and views on either side, CEEHRC may refer the case to the alleged offender’s home institution (Office of Research Integrity or similar), employer, licensing board, or law enforcement for their investigation and decision. The CEEHRC Network reserves the right to remove an individual from the meeting without warning or refund, prohibit attendance at future meetings, and notify the individual’s employer.