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Who Got Banned and Why

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Gumline has been permanently banned for harassment and disagreeing to cooperate with warnings to stay away from certain individuals.

 

 

After talking with BD's & the IM, I'm overturning the ban (and the warning itself). There was a bit of discussion that seemed like opinions may have been swayed as well - but, for simplicity's sake since the end result is the same, I'm just going to say that it's a veto.

 

First and foremost, I want to be explicitly clear about the environment I expect at SG, in a nutshell, referencing harassment / sexual harassment - this has nothing to do with this specific situation whatsoever. I've worked my entire adult life in some department of the federal government (and I'm the union rep now) - so we receive extensive training on harassment & sexual harassment. Bom mentioned it in another post somewhere that our rules and expectations here at SG are based on actual rules of society, which I believe to be 100% true. At the same time, however, we need to recognize we're not in a formal environment that requires the microscope of Human Resources.

 

I expect everyone to be allowed to play, post, hang out, etc., here free of legitimate discrimination against race, color, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, etc. I expect every higher up to look into each and every allegation of harassment or sexual harassment. All of this being said - that does not mean that we're being extremely PC or not allowed to joke around. Sometimes we investigate things that are obviously sexual / regular harassment, but oftentimes it's not. There's usually a lot more backstory to a situation. That's where confronting a person and saying something to the effect of "You are harassing me. Please stop" and then leaving the channel helps us, as investigators, make a determination that it is harassment after that point (minus somebody being ridiculous about petty crap). Without that, unless it is extremely black and white, action probably shouldn't be taken, because it's almost impossible for us to prove gross negligence / malice. Even in a situation that is completely black / white, a formal investigation (including an interview of the accused) typically occurs.

 

---------------------

 

On to this specific scenario:

 

I'm not trying to air anyone's laundry out in public, so I'm going to withhold from using names as much as I can. If you're anyone involved and you'd like further clarification or to get with me after, please feel free to shoot me a PM. I watched a 17 minute video - not just listened, but physically watched the chat in a private game. In the video, which was the spark of the aforementioned warning PM, I observed admitting to intentionally trying to get Gumline banned, refusing to leave to another channel when prompted by someone else to avoid Gumline, intentionally trying to engage in conversations with him in order to get him to admit to saying something (that really wasn't even bad to begin with), and a few other less-than-desirable actions.

 

I think there were some parts that were dumb to complain about, some parts where 'feeling the room' should have occurred, and some parts where the issue was confronted and resolved...ish. There was also a BD sitting in the channel, actively engaged in the conversation - if there was legitimate harassment occurring, messaging the BD on the side to say something if you're afraid or nervous to confront the individual directly would have worked wonders.

 

The 'official' warning under threat of ban that Gumline received is overturned for the aforementioned reasons.

 

After the fact, he joined a channel that had the user in it. The warning PM received by him was not clear in mentioning to avoid joining any channels, it simply said to avoid contact (which could go either way, because it doesn't really specify what that means). When asked if he had received this PM, he said he did not. There was no read-receipt, no verbal confirmation, Gumline was never pulled into a Discord channel to discuss the situation, etc. I find it just as likely to not be received as it is to be received - meaning tie goes to Gumline. There's no reasonable expectation nor trend of established forum activity to warrant thinking it is more likely to be received than not to be received. Gumline's response is what got him permed, which was probably not the best response, but didn't warrant a ban either way because it was determined that he might not have gotten the warning to begin with. No one needed to engage with him beyond 'Here is your warning - you've been served'.

The permanent ban Gumline received is overturned for these reasons.

 

------------------------

 

To the people involved: Stay the fuck away from Gumline.

 

Gumline: Stay the fuck away from them.

 

To everyone else: If someone is harassing you, do everything in your power to inform the person harassing you, remove yourself from the situation, and then report. Do not stay and engage. This is not saying that the harassers get to roam free while people being harassed are force to succumb - what it's doing is providing you with all the ammunition you need. If you can come to us and say 'I told this person he was harassing me, I told him to stay away, I left the channel, and he keeps following me around...', odds are that's enough to punish in some capacity.

 

If my expectations are unclear, please let me know.

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  • Content Count:  11501
  • Joined:  10/19/08
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After talking with BD's & the IM, I'm overturning the ban (and the warning itself). There was a bit of discussion that seemed like opinions may have been swayed as well - but, for simplicity's sake since the end result is the same, I'm just going to say that it's a veto.

 

First and foremost, I want to be explicitly clear about the environment I expect at SG, in a nutshell, referencing harassment / sexual harassment - this has nothing to do with this specific situation whatsoever. I've worked my entire adult life in some department of the federal government (and I'm the union rep now) - so we receive extensive training on harassment & sexual harassment. Bom mentioned it in another post somewhere that our rules and expectations here at SG are based on actual rules of society, which I believe to be 100% true. At the same time, however, we need to recognize we're not in a formal environment that requires the microscope of Human Resources.

 

I expect everyone to be allowed to play, post, hang out, etc., here free of legitimate discrimination against race, color, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, etc. I expect every higher up to look into each and every allegation of harassment or sexual harassment. All of this being said - that does not mean that we're being extremely PC or not allowed to joke around. Sometimes we investigate things that are obviously sexual / regular harassment, but oftentimes it's not. There's usually a lot more backstory to a situation. That's where confronting a person and saying something to the effect of "You are harassing me. Please stop" and then leaving the channel helps us, as investigators, make a determination that it is harassment after that point (minus somebody being ridiculous about petty crap). Without that, unless it is extremely black and white, action probably shouldn't be taken, because it's almost impossible for us to prove gross negligence / malice. Even in a situation that is completely black / white, a formal investigation (including an interview of the accused) typically occurs.

 

---------------------

 

On to this specific scenario:

 

I'm not trying to air anyone's laundry out in public, so I'm going to withhold from using names as much as I can. If you're anyone involved and you'd like further clarification or to get with me after, please feel free to shoot me a PM. I watched a 17 minute video - not just listened, but physically watched the chat in a private game. In the video, which was the spark of the aforementioned warning PM, I observed admitting to intentionally trying to get Gumline banned, refusing to leave to another channel when prompted by someone else to avoid Gumline, intentionally trying to engage in conversations with him in order to get him to admit to saying something (that really wasn't even bad to begin with), and a few other less-than-desirable actions.

 

I think there were some parts that were dumb to complain about, some parts where 'feeling the room' should have occurred, and some parts where the issue was confronted and resolved...ish. There was also a BD sitting in the channel, actively engaged in the conversation - if there was legitimate harassment occurring, messaging the BD on the side to say something if you're afraid or nervous to confront the individual directly would have worked wonders.

 

The 'official' warning under threat of ban that Gumline received is overturned for the aforementioned reasons.

 

After the fact, he joined a channel that had the user in it. The warning PM received by him was not clear in mentioning to avoid joining any channels, it simply said to avoid contact (which could go either way, because it doesn't really specify what that means). When asked if he had received this PM, he said he did not. There was no read-receipt, no verbal confirmation, Gumline was never pulled into a Discord channel to discuss the situation, etc. I find it just as likely to not be received as it is to be received - meaning tie goes to Gumline. There's no reasonable expectation nor trend of established forum activity to warrant thinking it is more likely to be received than not to be received. Gumline's response is what got him permed, which was probably not the best response, but didn't warrant a ban either way because it was determined that he might not have gotten the warning to begin with. No one needed to engage with him beyond 'Here is your warning - you've been served'.

The permanent ban Gumline received is overturned for these reasons.

 

------------------------

 

To the people involved: Stay the fuck away from Gumline.

 

Gumline: Stay the fuck away from them.

 

I'm not telling you guys you can't join a channel that has one or the other in it - but be mindful that the situation is under a microscope, and anything further deemed to be an issue will be dealt with.

 

 

To everyone else: If someone is harassing you, do everything in your power to inform the person harassing you, remove yourself from the situation, and then report. Do not stay and engage. This is not saying that the harassers get to roam free while people being harassed are force to succumb - what it's doing is providing you with all the ammunition you need. If you can come to us and say 'I told this person he was harassing me, I told him to stay away, I left the channel, and he keeps following me around...', odds are that's enough to punish in some capacity.

 

If my expectations are unclear, please let me know.

 

 

Also, just for clarification: I have permed Gumline myself and voted against unbans during several situations. My opinion of the situation stands with or without Gumline being one of the people involved.

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DerpySlerpee and micklandusa have been permanently banned for inciting drama involving Zombie Escape countless times. We are sick and tired of having to deal with drama surrounding Zombie Escape.

 

Case has also been banned for 5 days for inciting drama and leaking info from the staff Discord. 

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