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What happens during a consultation?
Learn more about your options for resolving human rights related conflicts or accomodations and the process for making a complaint. Follow the below steps to get started in the consultation process and discuss your concerns with the Human Rights Office Director.
Making an appointment
1. Book an Appointment
Appointments with the Human Rights Office Director can be scheduled by email, phone, or in person. For urgent matters, same-day appointments can be arranged. Support people and advocates are welcome to accompany you to the HRO; however, we ask that they do not disrupt any discussions or proceedings.
2. Discuss what assistance you require
If you only want advice about how to deal with your situation, the Director will limit her involvement to providing advice. This is what happens at the informal consultation stage. You can continue to seek advice from the HRO without ever initiating a complaint.
During the Consultation
3. Provide details to the HRO Director
The information you give will be kept private and confidential with some exceptions reguarding safety, legal requirements, consent, employment duties, and procedural fariness. Please refer to drop down list for further details.
The HRO’s records are subject to BC's Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. If a freedom of information access request is made, your personal information will be protected under Policy I.10.04.
List of privacy exceptions
- Danger to Self or Others: If you are at risk of self-harm or if there is an imminent risk of harm to others or University property. See Policy I.10.11’s Procedures for the Disclosure of Personal Information in Emergency or Compelling Circumstances.
- Suspected or Confirmed Child Abuse or Neglect: If you disclose a situation involving a risk of abuse or neglect to a child under 19 years of age.
- Legal Requirement: If a law, court order, subpoena, or warrant authorizes or compels disclosure of your information, or if the information is needed to prepare or obtain legal advice for the University.
- Consent: If you give us permission to release information to another person, agency, or institution.
- Employment Duties: If an employee of the University needs the information to perform their employment duties.
- Procedural Fairness: If you proceed with a complaint, disclosure of your information to the respondent may be required for procedural fairness. The HRO will discuss this with you before disclosing your information.
4. Decide whether to file a complaint
If you want to proceed beyond the informal consultation stage, you must file a complaint with the HRO in writing. The Director will do a preliminary review of your complaint to determine if your complaint falls within the scope and jurisdiction of the Human Rights Policy. In addition please note the following cirumstances can not include a formal complaint:
- Anonymous complaints are not accepted.
- Without information directly from the person who was the target of discrimination or harassment, the HRO will not proceed to act, except in exceptional circumstances. If you witness behavior you believe would constitute discrimination or harassment, the responsible thing to do is to approach the targeted person, let them know what you observed, and offer to act as a witness. Whether or not they choose to report the behavior is their decision.
If your complaint is accepted, the Director will explain the following options for resolving your complaint:
Informal Inquiry
The Director will discuss the complaint with the respondent to seek a mutually acceptable resolution.
Mediation
The complaint may proceed to mediation at any time if you and the respondent agree. Mediation is a process where people who are in conflict come together with an impartial third party (the mediator) in an attempt to resolve their issues. The bulk of the work that is done in mediation is done by the parties themselves, who must have a sincere desire to resolve their conflict. Mediation proceedings are confidential, “off the record”, and normally result in written agreements that set out the actions each of the parties has agreed to undertake to ensure that conflict does not arise in the future.
Voluntary Informal Resolution:
The Director will facilitate an informal resolution chosen by you (e.g. an educational conversation with the respondent, a facilitated conversation between you and the respondent, or a behavioral agreement).
Investigation
You or the respondent may make a written request to the Director at any time for an investigation of the complaint. The Director will send the request for investigation to the Responsible Office for the respondent. The Responsible Office will consider the request for investigation and decide whether and how to investigate. Following the investigation, the Responsible Office will communicate the findings to you and the respondent in writing.
Responses to a complaint
11. Will a record of my complaint be maintained on file?
The Records Retention and Disposal Authority for the HRO specifies that records are to be maintained for varying lengths of time, depending on the type of file. For example, informal consultation files are maintained for two years by the HRO. However, HRO files are not used for other purposes, which means that generally they are not disclosed to other University officials and/or used in other cases.
12. If I make a complaint about a certain individual, will the HRO tell me if other (similar) complaints have been made?
No. We do not disclose personal or confidential information about past cases to current complainants.
13. Will the person I am complaining about know that I have complained?
If you are only seeking advice, the respondent will not be notified by the HRO. However, if you wish to proceed beyond the informal consultation stage, the HRO will disclose your complaint to the respondent, including your identity and the allegations against them, unless you are seeking a voluntary informal resolution that does not require full disclosure (for example, if you only want the Director to have an educational conversation with the respondent).
14. Will precautions be taken to ensure my personal safety?
If issues are identified involving personal safety, we will contact Campus Security and/or the police. The University can take steps to ensure that complainants and respondents do not come into contact while cases are being resolved.
15. If I feel too upset to go through an investigation, can I obtain a remedy without going through an investigation?
You may obtain a remedy through the voluntary informal resolution or mediation process. If no informal or mediated resolution of the complaint has been reached, the complaint must be referred to investigation if you wish to obtain a remedy. The University does not take disciplinary or corrective action based on unproven allegations.
For more information or to make an appointment, please call the Human Rights Office at 778-782-6632 or email hroadmin@sfu.ca.