This is a Code of Conduct (CoC) incident response guide used by the Code of Conduct Committee and LLVM event organizers.
All responses to Code of Conduct reports will be managed by a Code of Conduct Committee.
In-person events will have an additional response team to immediately respond to an incident. For example:
These teams should determine if an immediate response is needed before sending the report to the Code of Conduct committee.
Reports are typically received by email (conduct@llvm.org) or in person from the reporter or event CoC response team.
When receiving a report by email, the CoC Committee should acknowledge receipt within 24 hours. The acknowledgement should be understanding and compassionate but no commitment should be made on whether this is a violation or which action will be taken. Specific guidance is in the checklist below.
For in-person events that have a violation reported, the report should be sent to the Code of Conduct committee within 24 hours by the on-site CoC response team.
The CoC committee generally works, decides, and communicates together. If the report indicates that an immediate response is required and other committee members are not available, any committee member may take the immediate action they think is necessary. In-person Code of Conduct response teams should use this checklist to determine if an immediate response is needed.
When undertaking an immediate response, document the action and notify the committee within 24 hours.
The following is a summary of the steps the committee takes when responding to a reported incident.
The committee will never make public statements about a resolution and will only publish transparency reports. If a public statement is necessary and requested by the committee, it will be given by the LLVM Foundation Board of Directors.
When a report is received, the committee will reply to the reporter to confirm receipt within 24 hours of the incident being reported.
This acknowledgement will contain:
All incident reports should be assessed if they require immediate response and acted on accordingly.
The committee will assess the incident and determine an appropriate response. The assessment will be documented and retained in records. Here are some guidelines for the process:
The committee will aim to have a resolution agreed upon within two weeks of receipt of the incident report. In the event that a resolution cannot be determined within that time, the CoC committee will respond to the reporter(s) with an updated and projected timeline for resolution.
When following up with the reportee, the committee will:
The reportee will be given a week to respond with the option to request additional time if needed and subject to approval of the CoC Committee.
The committee should agree unanimously on a resolution. In the event that the committee cannot reach a unanimous resolution, the LLVM Foundation Board of Directors will help resolve the situation and determine if the resolution can proceed without a unanimous vote.
When deciding on a resolution, the goal is to address the report in an appropriate way, while also looking to prevent or reduce the risk of continuing harm in the future. Any action deemed necessary by the committee will be taken, but below is a list of possible resolutions:
Once a resolution is agreed upon, but before it is enacted, the committee will contact the reporter and any other affected parties to explain the proposed resolution. They will ask if this resolution is acceptable and must note feedback for the record. However, the committee is not required to act on this feedback.
Any individual(s) determined to have violated the CoC have the right to appeal a decision. An appeal can be made directly to the committee by sending an email to conduct@llvm.org with subject line Code of Conduct Incident Appeal.
The email should include documentation related to the incident to support the appeal. The said documentation may include, but does not have to be limited to:
Appeals can be requested up to 30 days after a resolution has been communicated to the individual(s). The committee will aim to evaluate appeals within two weeks of receipt. In the event that appeal can not be evaluated within that time, the CoC committee will respond with an updated and projected timeline.
Committee members should declare any conflicts of interest as soon as possible and before any official committee meetings. This can mean being friends with one of the involved parties, or anything else that may make it harder to remain neutral.
A conflict of interest does not inherently mean the committee member can no longer participate in the process, as that would make it very hard for the team to act on reports involving well-known people in the community. However, if a report concerns a team member or someone they work directly with, they probably should not take part in the process. The team will decide together on where to draw this line in individual cases. Where possible, any conversations with offenders should not be done by people who know them, as it can be very unpleasant for everyone involved.
If a report is received concerning a committee member, that member must not be involved in the response process. The rest of the committee will meet and decide on the report without the reported committee member being present, and will not share more information than they would have with a non-member. If a member of the committee is found to have violated the CoC, they may no longer be able to keep serving on the committee.
All reports will be kept confidential with details shared only with the Code of Conduct committee members. However, the Code of Conduct Committee will always comply with law enforcement when directed. In the case that a CoC committee member is involved in a report, the member will be asked to recuse themselves from ongoing conversations, and they will not have access to reports after the enforcement decision has been made.
In the event of a temporary suspension or ban, the appropriate people must be notified of the ban in order to restrict access to infrastructure or events. These individuals will only be notified of the person’s name and the restrictions imposed. They will be under a confidentiality clause and not allowed to respond to questions regarding the ban and should direct all questions to the CoC committee.
Lack of transparency in the outcomes of our Code of Conduct incidents leaves our community without an understanding of how or if the organizers worked to resolve incidents. The CoC committee should aim to publish transparency reports, if reports are received, after major events (such as the LLVM Developers’ meetings) and on the following dates: Jan 15, April 15, July 15, Oct 15.
A transparency report consists of 2 parts:
These reports will be published on the LLVM website.
This guide was created and inspired by the following: the Django Project, Carpentries Response Guide, and the Write The Docs Response Guide.