Investigations & Hiring

Investigative Procedure (Non-Sexual Misconduct Investigations)

NON-MISCONDUCT, HARASSMENT OR RETALIATION INVESTIGATIVE PROCEDURE*

Complaints alleging (i) discrimination or harassment based on race, color, religion, sex (including sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, or pregnancy), national origin, age, disability, genetic information, or protected veteran status or (ii) retaliation for engaging in protected activity should be submitted to the Investigations unit of Equity & Civil Rights Compliance. Complaints may be submitted by completing an incident report at https://gsuintakeform.powerappsportals.com/. Employees and students also may email the Investigations unit at [email protected] or call 404-413-2560, and they will be directed to the intake form.

Completed incident reports are reviewed by the Director of Investigations, who assesses whether a formal investigation, informal resolution, or dismissal is appropriate. In making this determination, the Director will assess whether the allegation(s), if true, rise to the level of prohibited conduct, whether an investigation is appropriate in light of the circumstances, and whether the parties prefer an informal resolution. The Director may, but is not required to, conduct an intake interview with the complainant to gather additional information relevant to the appropriate disposition of the complaint.

The Director will promptly refer incident reports that do not concern discrimination or harassment based on protected category membership, or retaliation to the appropriate University unit and advise the complainant of the referral. Complainants whose initial allegations do not rise to the level of prohibited conduct will receive a written dismissal decision.

Incident reports that are not dismissed or informally resolved will be assigned by the Director to an investigator for formal investigation. The investigator will open the formal investigation by sending the complainant(s) a Notice of Investigation (NOI) and the respondent(s) a Notice of Allegation of Discrimination (NOAD). The NOI and NOAD will set forth the specific allegations, the policies implicated, and the parties’ rights. The respondent’s supervisor is copied on the NOAD. The parties will have five business days from receipt of the NOI and NOAD to schedule an interview with the investigator. Respondents may, but are not required, to submit a written response. The NOI and NOAD may be revised and reissued at any time during the investigation to reflect material changes in the allegations and/or implicated policies.

The investigator will interview the complainant(s), respondent(s), and witnesses identified by the parties, as well as collect and assess relevant evidence, documents, and information provided by the parties and witnesses or obtained from other sources. Parties may be interviewed more than once. The investigator will provide parties and witnesses with written summaries of information obtained during their interviews shortly after the conclusion of the interviews. Parties and witnesses will be given three business days to review and confirm the accuracy of the information provided or to notify the investigator of needed corrections. A non-response will be considered confirmation of the summary’s accuracy.

At the conclusion of the investigation, the investigator will issue to the parties a draft investigative summary and a compilation of relevant evidence (an “initial report”). The parties will have five business days to review and respond in writing to the initial report. A non-response by a party to the initial report will be considered acceptance of its contents. Following review of written responses, if any, the investigator may re-open the investigation, revise the initial report, and/or issue the final report. The final report is issued to the parties, the respondent’s supervisor, and other administrators, as appropriate.

If the investigator concludes that the respondent was not responsible f for a policy violation, the matter will be dismissed and closed. If the respondent is  found responsible for a policy violation, the matter will be referred to Employee Relations (for staff respondents) or the Office of Faculty Affairs (for faculty respondents) for appropriate sanctions and/or remedial action, in consultation with the Office of Legal Affairs, as appropriate. Matters may be referred to Employee Relations or the Office of Faculty Affairs for remedial action even if no violation is found.

Rights of Parties

EQUITY & CIVIL RIGHTS COMPLIANCE INVESTIGATIONS – RIGHTS OF THE PARTIES

•The Investigations unit of Equity & Civil Rights Compliance (ECRC) is conducting an administrative, not a criminal or civil law, investigation into possible harassment, discrimination and/or sexual misconduct under the relevant policy or policies.

•ECRC is not advocating for or representing any party in this process and cannot provide legal advice to any party in this process.

•ECRC is not prosecuting the Respondent(s) in this process. ECRC is gathering information to determine whether there is a preponderance of the evidence that conduct has occurred which violates the applicable policy or policies.

•Complainants and Respondents must be treated equitably. Both parties will have access to supportive measures, i.e., non-disciplinary, non-punitive individualized services before or after a complaint or where no complaint is filed. These measures are to preserve or restore equal access to GSU programs or activities and to deter prohibited harassment or discrimination. These measures will remain confidential to the extent possible. Parties also have a right to request interim protective measures in matters where such measures are appropriate, and, even in the absence of such a request, ECRC may act to implement interim protective measures to protect the parties and/or the University community.

•The Respondent is not considered in violation of any applicable policy or policies unless and until a violation is found as a result of the investigation and resolution process.

•The information obtained during the investigative process will be evaluated using a preponderance of the evidence standard. This means that in order to find a Respondent in violation of the applicable policy or policies, more than 50% of the evidence must support that the Respondent engaged in conduct prohibited by that policy.

•As a Respondent, you have a right to have a support person of your choice present for all meetings. This person may be an advocate, friend, parent, lawyer or any other person. In some instances, that advisor may not be someone who also is a witness in the investigation. The support person may not actively participate in the investigative process, but may be consulted at any point in the process.

•As a Respondent, you have the right to know the substance of the allegations against you so that you may have an opportunity to respond.

•As a Respondent, you have the right to decline to make any statements or answer questions regarding or related to the alleged misconduct and, should you do so, no inference as to responsibility will be drawn.

•As a Complainant or Respondent, you have the right to identify witnesses, documents, or other materials believed to be relevant for ECRC to review and consider. You have the right to pose questions to parties or witnesses through the investigator. Privileged documents, including but not limited to medical documents, mental health records, or attorney-client privileged materials, will not be included in the file or reviewed by the investigator unless written consent is provided allowing the privileged information to be considered as evidence.

• If determined by ECRC to be appropriate, and if both Complainant(s) and Respondent(s) agree, reports of alleged misconduct under the applicable policy or policies may be informally resolved through mediation by the GSU Office of the Ombudsperson, except in instances of student allegations of sexual harassment, as defined by Title IX, that are committed by a University employee. Absent such determination and agreement, reports of alleged misconduct by employees shall be resolved informally pursuant to these procedures.

• If a violation is found, the level of discipline and type of sanction(s) will depend on the severity and nature of the violation, the weight of the evidence, and the need to maintain a safe and respectful environment. Sanctions are not determined by ECRC, but by Employee Relations working in concert with the Respondent’s supervisors and/or unit/department.

• Sanctions may be appealed via the employee grievance process. Matters resolved informally may not be appealed.

• No person connected to an investigation by ECRC may be subjected to retaliation for such participation. Retaliation is prohibited by GSU’s Student Code of Conduct and GSU’s Equal Opportunity Statement, as set forth at Section 101.1 of the GSU Employee Handbook. If found to have occurred by a preponderance of the evidence, retaliation provides an independent basis for disciplinary action.

• The University offers support services to assist you during this time:

• STUDENTS:
  • Counseling Center
  • Student Assistance
  • Office of the Ombudsperson
•  EMPLOYEES:
  • Faculty and Staff Assistance
  • Therapy Assistance Online Web Page
  • Office of the Ombudsperson

To report an incident of discrimination or harassment based on the protected categories (race, sex [including sexual harassment,* gender identity, sexual orientation and pregnancy], ethnicity or national origin, religion, age, genetic information, disability or veteran status), please follow the link below to complete and submit an incident report. Your report will be forwarded to the Investigations unit for review and you will receive a copy of your report via email.

Open the Incident Report Form.

*Please do not use this incident report to report an incident of sexual harassment or sexual misconduct; please complete a sexual misconduct incident report.