mlh-policies

MLH Incident Response Guide

The following is a guide of actions to be taken in the case of a Code of Conduct Violation.

Contact Your MLHer

If you’re at an in-person event, you should have an MLHer on-site. If you’re at a digital event, your MLHers should be reachable through the event’s communication platform (typically Slack or Discord). Your MLHer is responsible for addressing violations of the Code of Conduct and following MLH’s procedures. If someone comes to you with a concern, you should politely connect them with your MLHer for further resolution.

Contact the MLH Incidents Team

If you cannot contact your on-site MLHer, immediately contact MLH’s Incident Response Team via one of the reporting phone numbers. If you do connect with your on-site MLHer, they will call the incidents team.

• North America General Reporting - +1 409 202 6060, incidents@mlh.io
• Canada General Reporting - +1 343 453 4532, incidents@mlh.io
• UK General Reporting - +44 800 808 5675, incidents@mlh.io
• Europe General Reporting - +44 333 038 5995, incidents@mlh.io
• Asia-Pacific General Reporting - +91 000 80004 02492, incidents@mlh.io
• India General Reporting - 000 80004 02492, incidents@mlh.io

Below are the rough steps that MLHers will go through.

Ensure Everyone’s Safety, Privacy, and Comfort

Our staff prioritizes attendee safety over process when necessary. Beyond that, they will do their best to ensure that everyone’s privacy is respected and they are comfortable throughout the resolution process.

Initial Report

The on-site MLHer will prepare an initial report of the situation. Depending on the severity/details of the incident, to get this report, the MLHer will follow these guidelines:

• If there is any general threat to attendees or the safety of anyone, including conference staff, is in doubt, summon security or police.
• If everyone is presently physically safe, involve law enforcement or security only at a victim’s request.
• Offer the victim a private place to sit.
• Explain who they are and ask what happened, so they can help address the situation.
• Provide them with a list of emergency contacts if they need help later.

The MLHer will try to get as much of the incident in written form from the reporter. If they cannot, they will transcribe it as it was told to them. The important information to gather includes the following:

• Identifying information (name, etc.) of the participant doing the harassing
• The behavior that was in violation
• The approximate time of the behavior
• The circumstances surrounding the incident
• Other people involved in the incident
• Other people who know of the incident

There are also some guidelines as to what not to do as an initial response:

• Do not overtly invite them to withdraw the complaint or mention that withdrawal is OK. This suggests that you want them to do so and is therefore coercive. “If you’re OK with it [pursuing the complaint]” suggests that you are by default pursuing it and is not coercive.
• Do not ask for their advice on how to deal with the complaint, or ask them for input on penalties. This is a staff responsibility. The MLHer on-site will work with the MLH Incidents Team to respond in a consistent way across events. They will keep the local organizing team involved in this process.

Some things our team can consider when dealing with Code of Conduct offenders can be found in our Disciplinary Action Policy.

Response

MLH will decide on a course of action with the on-site MLHer and event organizers. Your MLHer will ask the alleged harasser to speak in a private space and summarize the report that was made against them. They will then notify them of MLH’s decision.

If the alleged harasser has a different understanding of the situation, we allow them to give their side of the story, but our course of action will stand until an MLHer says otherwise.

It is very important how we deal with the incident publicly. Our policy is to make sure that everyone aware of the initial incident is also made aware that it is not according to policy and that official action has been taken, while still respecting the privacy of individual attendees. When speaking to individuals (who were aware of the incident but were not directly involved), we will leave out specific details.

Depending on the incident, the MLH Incident Response Team, in coordination with the on-site MLHer, will determine if any public announcements are necessary. While MLHers are the primary communicators for such announcements, there may be specific contexts where local organizers are asked to deliver an announcement. In such cases, this will only occur after close collaboration with MLH on the precise wording and timing.

If attendees express distress or anger about an incident and its handling:

• Acknowledge their feelings and sincerely express regret that their experience was negatively affected by the incident.
• Reassure them that such matters are taken seriously and that appropriate steps are being taken or have been taken, respecting the privacy of those involved.
• If they wish to provide further feedback or discuss their concerns in more detail, offer them clear channels to do so by speaking further with the on-site MLHer when appropriate, or encouraging them to provide written feedback directly to MLH via incidents@mlh.io so their concerns can be addressed.

Last Revised: 2026-04-16

This site is open source. Improve this page.