CONDUCT AND ETHICS COMMITTEE
Guidelines for VCC Club Members
The ultimate objective of the VCC Conduct and Ethics Committee rulings is to improve the playing environment for all VCC members and guests. To that end, the following procedures will be followed regarding Zero Tolerance violations, or other questionable behavior at VCC games.
Procedure for initiating a complaint to the C & E Committee.
When a person is subjected to or witnesses conduct that violates our Zero Tolerance Policy:
1. The offended party or witness notifies the Director immediately or as soon as practical.
2. The Director rules on the complaint, announces the ruling at the table, and enters the incident in the Director’s log. If the offended party or witnesses believe the penalty was not adequate to the infraction, any or all may submit a complaint in writing to the Chair of the C&E Committee. If the director believes the penalty was not adequate to the infraction, then they must submit a complaint in writing within 24 hours to the Chair of the C&E committee. The Conduct and Ethics Information Notification form (see attachment), or a letter to the Committee, may be used for this purpose. The form is available at the directors’ desk, or online on the VCC website.
3. Any VCC member may write to the C & E Committee regarding a ZT violation, or perceived pattern of behavior, at any time. Individual violations not documented with the director are not automatically investigated. Complaints received from multiple individuals regarding the same person’s behavior will usually be investigated. The complainant(s) may be asked to provide additional written documentation or to fill out an Ethics Notification form at that time.
C&E Complaint Review Procedure
This procedure is in place for individually documented complaints, and for documented recurring patterns of behavior.
1. The Ethics Committee reviews each documented complaint and determines if further investigation is necessary.
2. The C&E chairperson responds to all written complaints, acknowledging receipt and thanking the complainant(s) for their input.
3. If the Committee feels that no further action is necessary, the Committee Chairperson informs all parties involved of that decision. This is either done in writing or personally, based on the Committee’s judgment as to which is more appropriate for the particular case.
4. If further investigation is warranted, the Committee meets and hears discussion from all parties involved. A copy of the complaint may or may not be given to the accused, at the Committee’s discretion.
5. The Committee discusses the evidence, reaches a ruling, and documents the results.
6. The Committee informs both the accused VCC member and the offended party that a ruling was reached. The offended party will not be informed of the results, out of respect for the privacy of the accused.
C & E Appeals Procedure
1. If the accused VCC member feels he did not get a fair hearing, they may appeal. A probation or lesser matter is appealed to the C&E Committee, and a suspension with probation is appealed to the VCC Board. For probationary or lesser matter, the Chair of the C & E Committee determines if new facts directly pertinent to the ruling are included in the appeal. If so, the C& E Committee reconvenes to review the new information. If the appeal is regarding a suspension, then the VCC President will determine if new facts directly pertinent to the ruling are included in the appeal and if so will reconvene the board to review. The Board may decide to pass the matter back to the Conduct and Ethics Committee for further review.
2. If the member is suspended from club games including Unit or ACBL sponsored games such as GNT, NAP, STAC, or district or unit championships, then this part of the suspension can be appealed to the unit board within 30 days of the date the action was taken by the club.
3. A club may never bar a player as a class based on the player’s race, creed, religion, political affiliation, national origin, sexual orientation, or proficiency at bridge. If a player feels that they have been barred for any of these reasons he should appeal sequentially to the unit, district, and the ACBL Board.
October 2007