The Geek.Zone/Trustees always want to avoid the need for the Disciplinary Policy and will, wherever possible, take steps to resolve a situation without formal proceedings. Unfortunately, sometimes that will not be possible.

Should an allegation be brought against a member that goes against the Geek.Zone/Constitution or the Geek.Zone/Ethos, the following procedure will be followed.

Informal invitation to discuss.

• A Trustee will invite the member accused to discuss the matter in an informal setting. The Trustees primary duty is to safeguard every individual Geek.Zone member, so it is clearly not only important for the Trustees to understand both sides of the story, but also to ensure the wellbeing of both parties. This discussion will also help to discern any mitigating circumstances which could have contributed to the complaint. The member is welcome to request to be accompanied or to set a more convenient date. During this meeting, the Trustee and the accused should be able to reach an agreement, so hopefully, this is the point at which the matter will be resolved.

Additional informal invitation to discuss

• Should the previous stage not be received, The Geek.Zone Trustees will make another attempt to resolve the matter informally. This could be initiated by a verbal or via an IM message.

Email from The Trustees

• Should the previous stage be unsuccessful, the Trustees will invite the member to discuss at an informal Trustee meeting.

Email to formal Trustee Meeting

• Should the previous stages be unsuccessful, the Trustees will invite the member to a formal Trustee meeting. They will be able to bring a representative with them and select a date of their choosing.

Email to Initiate Membership Review Process

• If all the above has failed to produce a satisfactory resolution, or if the member has refused to participate, then the Trustees will be left with no alternative other than to initiate the Constitutional Membership Review process, as set out in section 9.4.4 of the ((Constitution|Geek.Zone/Constitution)). This will;
  ** Inform the member of the reasons why it is proposed to remove them from membership
  ** Give the member at least 21 clear days’ notice in which to make representations to the trustees as to why they should not be removed from membership;
  ** At a duly constituted meeting of the trustees, consider whether or not the member should be removed from membership;
  ** Consider at that meeting any representations which the member makes as to why the member should not be removed;
  ** Allow the member, or the member’s representative, to make those representations in person at that meeting, if the member so chooses.

The Trustees will then take any representations into account. If no representations are provided, the decision will be made in absentia.

Hopefully, the Trustees will never need to progress to that stage! In the (hopefully unlikely) situation that you are involved in a disciplinary matter, please cooperate with your Trustees, as they are here to help and support you as much as they are the other party.