Staff Harassment Policy

Last updated December 22, 2023.

All staff members are expected to be awesome! We need to conduct ourselves in a courteous, professional manner. Whether you're on duty at one of our events or not, we staff are viewed as representatives of Altonimbus Entertainment to the public. We must be respectful and mindful of our fellow staffers, guests of honor, industry personnel, contractors, exhibitors, convention attendees, and anyone else we come across! We will not tolerate discrimination and/or harassment of any form at any level.

Our goal is to provide a safe, secure, and pleasant environment for anyone and everyone, regardless of gender, sexual orientation, disability, gender identity, age, race, or religion. In order to achieve this, the following rules of conduct must be followed by every Kumoricon staff member, regardless of position or staff level, no matter how high up.

These rules of conduct apply at any time, place, or venue throughout the year while we are registered as staff members, in which staff members are participating primarily because we are staff, and also anytime a staff member appears to be representing Altonimbus Entertainment (intentionally or unintentionally). If anyone violates these rules, they will be asked to stop and will need to comply immediately. Any violations (repeated or singular, depending on severity) can result in being asked to leave the event, and if the violation is serious enough, may include suspension or removal of that person's staff status. Any violation which involves activities prohibited by law may result in notification of the proper authorities.

The following are examples of conduct which we can't allow as staff (most of them should be obvious and easy):

Use of sexually explicit language or imagery.
Discriminatory or derogatory jokes or comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, national origin, religion, age, marital status, military status, or any other aspect of a person's identity.
Deliberate intimidation stalking or following.
Photography or recordings that serve to intimidate or embarrass, rather than preserve a positive memory, or when the subject has made a reasonable request that they do not wish to be photographed.
Heckling, jeering, or other disruption of convention events.
Unwanted physical contact.
Threats, or use of explicit violent language or imagery.
Display of vulgar signs, gestures, T-shirts, symbols, etc. containing prohibited language or imagery.
Any form of sexual harassment. Sexual harassment does not refer to occasional compliments or other generally acceptable social behavior. Sexual harassment refers to verbal, physical, and visual conduct of a sexual nature that is unwelcome and offensive to the recipient.

There are certain limited situations where language or imagery that would normally not be acceptable may be permitted. Such conduct may be proper if it is part of a work of media being presented as official event programming, if it is part of a contextually appropriate educational discussion, or if the review of such content is part of the official business of the organization. What's important is that staff, attendees, and others are not exposed to this content against their wishes.

Please contact your supervisor immediately if:

You feel you have been the victim of harassment by vendors, industry, guests, exhibitors, visitors, attendees, co-staffers, supervisors, or others;
You observe or hear of conduct which may be harassment prohibited by this policy;
You feel you have been retaliated against in any way by anyone for raising concerns under this policy;
You feel you may have unintentionally performed such an action and are unable to, for any reason, make amends alone or without assistance.

We understand that there will be cases where you may be uncomfortable speaking to your direct supervisor; that's perfectly fine! If you're in this situation, please bring your concerns to any supervisor or executive staff you feel comfortable speaking with. However, please be certain the person you are speaking to is actually a supervisor (has people reporting to them) before speaking with them and disclosing any information.

Upon disclosure of a possible interaction, we will promptly conduct a confidential investigation. In deciding on the corrective action, we'll consider the whole situation. We will consider the severity of the violation, a history of similar or any other violations, and if the incident was intentional. Appropriate corrective actions will be taken as needed upon completion of the investigation. Any volunteer staff found to be in violation of the policy will be promptly educated or disciplined.

How to Respond to Conduct in Violation of Policy:

General Staff:

If an attendee or fellow staff member believes that they have been subject to harassment, they may address the situation directly and immediately with the alleged harasser by asking them to stop. If the inappropriate conduct does not cease, or if the harassed person is uncomfortable with addressing the alleged harasser directly (or unable to), please advise them to report the incident to their own supervisor, director (if they are a member of staff), or to a member of the Human Relationship team. If you, as a staffer, are witness to this event, please bring it to one of the superiors listed above. It is helpful, but not required, to provide a written record of the date, time, and nature of the incident(s) and the names of any witnesses.

It is important to report any and all concerns of harassment or discrimination to a member of the Human Relationship team or a supervisor or director as soon as possible. We as management must be made aware of the situation as soon as possible so that we can conduct an immediate and impartial investigation, and take appropriate action to remediate or prevent any further harassment from continuing. After all, we want all of you to feel safe!

Supervisors, Executives, and Directors:

We (as supervisors, executives, and directors) must deal quickly and fairly with allegations of harassment or discrimination within our teams, whether or not there has been a written or formal complaint. We must take all complaints or concerns of alleged or potential harassment or discrimination seriously, no matter how minor, or who is involved. Furthermore, we should ensure that any possible incidents of harassment or discrimination are immediately reported to a member of the Human Relationship team so that a prompt investigation can occur, and any appropriate action can be taken to prevent retaliation or prohibited conduct from recurring.

Supervisors, executives, and directors who knowingly allow or tolerate harassment or retaliation, including the failure to immediately report such misconduct, are in violation of this policy and also subject to discipline.