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, national origin/ethnicity, sex (including sexual harassment, sexual orientation, gender identity, and pregnancy), age, genetic information, protected veteran status, or disability or (ii) retaliation for protected activity should be submitted to the Investigations & Hiring unit of Equity & Civil Rights Compliance. Complaints may be submitted by completing and submitting an incident report via our intake form. Employees and students also may email the unit at [email protected] or call the unit at 404-413-2561, and they will be directed to the intake form.

Completed incident reports are reviewed by the Director of Investigations & Hiring. Incident reports that do not concern protected category discrimination, harassment, or retaliation are referred to the appropriate unit. Incident reports concerning discrimination, harassment, or retaliation are assigned to an investigator, who conducts an intake interview with the complainant. The investigator may also request relevant documents. If, after intake, the investigator believes that the complainant has failed to state an actionable claim (i.e., even if all events occurred as alleged, the conduct in question does not constitute discrimination, harassment, or retaliation), the investigator will consult with the Director. If the Director agrees that the complainant has failed to state a claim, the matter will be dismissed, and the complainant will receive a memorandum explaining the reason for dismissal. Otherwise, the investigator proceeds with the investigation by sending the respondent a Notice of Allegation of Discrimination (NOAD) setting forth the specific allegations, the policies implicated, and the parties’ rights. The respondent’s supervisor is copied on the NOAD. The respondent has five business days from receipt of the NOAD to schedule an interview with the investigator. Respondents may, but are not required, to submit a written response. The NOAD may be revised and reissued at any time during the investigation if additional policies are implicated.

The investigator interviews witnesses referred by the parties and collects and reviews any relevant documentary evidence. This process may involve multiple interviews with the parties. Parties and witnesses will be asked to review summaries of their interviews for accuracy shortly after those interviews have occurred. At the conclusion of the investigation, the investigator issues a draft investigative summary to the parties. The parties have five business days to review and respond to the draft. They also may review the relevant evidence. A non-response to the draft report is considered acceptance of its contents. The final report is then issued to the parties, the respondent’s supervisor, and other administrators as appropriate.

If there was no finding of a policy violation, the matter is dismissed and closed. If the respondent was found responsible for a policy violation, the matter is referred to Employee Relations (staff respondent) or the Office of Faculty Affairs (faculty respondent) for appropriate sanctions and/or remedial action, in consultation with the Office of Legal Affairs, as appropriate. Matters may be referred for remedial action even if no violation was found.

*If it is determined during initial review of a complaint that the allegations fall under Title IX, both parties will be notified.

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 sexualmisconduct under the relevant policy or policies.
•ECRC is not advocating for or representing any party in this process and cannot provide legaladvice to any party in this process.
•ECRC is not prosecuting the Respondent(s) in this process. ECRC is gathering information todetermine whether there is a preponderance of the evidence that conduct has occurred whichviolates the applicable policy or policies.
•Complainants and Respondents must be treated equitably. Both parties will have access tosupportive measures, i.e., non-disciplinary, non-punitive individualized services before or after acomplaint or where no complaint is filed. These measures are to preserve or restore equal accessto GSU programs or activities and to deter prohibited harassment or discrimination. Thesemeasures will remain confidential to the extent possible. Parties also have a right to requestinterim protective measures in matters where such measures are appropriate, and, even in theabsence of such a request, ECRC may act to implement interim protective measures to protectthe parties and/or the University community.
•The Respondent is not considered in violation of any applicable policy or policies unless and untila violation is found as a result of the investigation and resolution process.
•The information obtained during the investigative process will be evaluated using apreponderance of the evidence standard. This means that in order to find a Respondent inviolation of the applicable policy or policies, more than 50% of the evidence must support thatthe 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 allmeetings. This person may be an advocate, friend, parent, lawyer or any other person. In someinstances, 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 thatyou may have an opportunity to respond.
•As a Respondent, you have the right to decline to make any statements or answer questionsregarding or related to the alleged misconduct and, should you do so, no inference as toresponsibility will be drawn.
•As a Complainant or Respondent, you have the right to identify witnesses, documents, or othermaterials believed to be relevant for ECRC to review and consider. You have the right to posequestions to parties or witnesses through the investigator. Privileged documents, including butnot 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.