MISCONDUCT POLICY

The following misconduct policy (the “Misconduct Policy”) has been prepared for Anthony Meindl’s Actor Workshop and approved by Anthony Meindl. The Misconduct Policy applies to students of to AMAW, faculty and staff.

GENERAL

AMAW believes in every student’s right to learn and practice their craft in an open, non-threatening, creative environment free of misconduct, harassment and discrimination.
No student of AMAW should ever be made to feel uncomfortable or non-included due to his or her race, gender, gender identity, sexual preference, religious beliefs, nationality, age or disability.
AMAW also believes in their facility and their craft as a true forum for the creative exploration of the actor. All students are encouraged to express themselves without fear of censorship or judgment.
AMAW is committed to providing an environment that is free of misconduct, discrimination and harassment (which includes stalking, sexual harassment, and sexual assault). The AMAW community is committed to fostering a healthy and safe environment in which every member of the community can realize her or his fullest potential.

FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION

Nothing in this policy shall abridge freedom of expression or AMAW’s educational mission.
However, Students and Teachers shouldn’t mistake this freedom as an allowance to say or take actions that fall under the following categories of misconduct, harassment, or sexual harassment.

DEFINITIONS

MISCONDUCT
“Misconduct” shall mean any of the following actions:

• Actions which endanger the life or safety of another person, negligent or otherwise;
• Unauthorized possession of firearms, explosives or weapons of any kind on AMAW property, premises or places of operation;
• Engaging in criminal conduct or acts of violence or making threats of violence toward anyone on the premises or when representing AMAW;
• Demonstrating a violent propensity through behavior, conduct or threats of such whether on or off the AMAW premises;
• Fighting (or provoking of fights), horseplay, or damage to the AMAW property, whether negligent or otherwise;
• Threatening, intimidating or coercing any faculty member, staff, employee, independent contractor, performer or student on the AMAW premises;
• Causing the destruction or damage of property, or the property of fellow faculty, staff, employees, independent contractors, performers, students or visitors in any manner, whether negligent or otherwise;
• Violation of security or rules and guidelines, failure to observe rules and guidelines or safety practices, and/or tampering with safety equipment;
• Theft of AMAW’s property or the property of faculty, staff, employees, independent contractors, performers or students, including the unauthorized possession/removal of property (such as documents), from the premises without prior permission from management, the unauthorized use of equipment or property for personal reasons, and/or using AMAW’s equipment for profit;
• Any use by a faculty member of their position and authority for personal gain, be it financial, business, political or otherwise, including, without limitation requiring students to volunteer or participate on projects outside of the school as an overt or implied condition of their education;
• Being intoxicated while in a class, a class rehearsal or during a class performance;
• Any form of retaliation for filing a complaint under this policy or for assisting or participating in an investigation, proceeding or hearing.

STUDENT MISCONDUCT POLICY

“Student” shall mean (i) a Currently Enrolled Student; and (ii) an Inactive Student. A “Currently Enrolled Student” means any individual currently enrolled in any course offered by AMAW. The status of Currently Enrolled Student shall continue for two (2) months after the course’s last class. An “Inactive Student” means any former Currently Enrolled Student during the time period beginning two (2) months after the course’s last class into perpetuity.

HARASSMENT

Harassment, outside of the context of a written scene, is verbal or physical conduct, including written, spoken or visual material that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual because of his/her race, sex, color, religion, creed, gender, national origin, age, handicap, disability, citizenship, sexual orientation, veteran, or marital status, or that of his/her relatives, friends or associates, and that:

• Creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working, educational or performance environment;
• Adversely affects an individual’s employment, educational or performance opportunities.

Harassment includes sexual harassment and Stalking (as defined below); however, Harassment can take many forms, and is not necessarily sexual in nature. The following could be considered harassment and therefore constitutes prohibited conduct:

• Offensive comments, jokes, innuendoes, and other derogatory statements that are hurtful towards an above named protected category. This could include downloading, copying, storing, creating, transmitting or distributing any pornographic, offensive, defamatory, obscene or discriminatory information;
• Visual conduct such as derogatory and/or sexually-oriented material defined towards an individual including: posters, photography, cartoons, drawings or gestures including those accessed or sent via E-mail, social network or other physical and/or digital means;
• Any conduct that creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive environment.
• Retaliation for having reasonably and in good faith reported or threatened to report harassment.

STALKING

Stalking is defined as a course of conduct directed at a specific person that would cause a reasonable person to feel fear. Stalking involves repeated and continued harassment made against the expressed wishes of another individual, which causes the targeted individual to feel emotional distress, including fear and apprehension. Stalking behaviors may include:

• Pursuing or following;
• Non-consensual (unwanted) communication or contact – including face-to-face, telephone calls, voice messages, electronic messages, text messages, written letters, social media messages, etc.;
• Sending unwanted gifts (such as flowers);
• Trespassing, property damage;
• Surveillance or other types of observation including invasion of online privacy.

SEXUAL ASSAULT

Is defined as any nonconsensual, intentional physical contact of a sexual nature, such as unwelcome physical contact with a person’s genitals, buttocks, or breasts. Sexual assault occurs when the act is committed by: a) physical force, violence, threat, or intimidation; b) ignoring the objections of another person; c) causing another’s intoxication or impairment through the use of alcohol or other drugs; and/or d) taking advantage of another person’s incapacitation, helplessness, or other inability to consent.

EXAMPLES OF MISCONDUCT

The following list is not exhaustive, but attempts to provide some simple examples of misconduct to illustrate severity and the category the behavior falls into.

Misconduct:

• Pulling out an actual knife in character during a scene.
• Throwing a chair against a wall
• Forcing your way into another person’s car or cab when leaving a class, rehearsal, show or any AMAW event or after socializing after those events.

Harassment:

• Repeated reference to a performer’s actual race regardless of the race of their character.
• Writing sketches and providing situations referencing faculty or actual students (non-public figures) in a derogatory or insulting manner.
• Retaliation for filing of a formal complaint.

Stalking:

• Videotaping and photographing someone without consent.
• Following someone else home from class, rehearsal, audition, show or AMAW event.

Sexual Harassment:

• Pressure for a date or a romantic or intimate relationship.
• Unnecessary and unwelcome references to various parts of the body.
• Belittling remarks about a person’s gender or belittling remarks about a person’s sexual orientation based in gender-stereotyping.
• Obscene gestures of a sexual or gender-based nature.
• Unwelcome touching, kissing, hugging, or massaging.

Sexual Assault:

• Non-consensual, intentional physical contact of a sexual nature

REPORTING INCIDENTS OF MISCONDUCT

AMAW encourages reporting misconduct to your Teacher, the Student-Teacher liaison, Studio Manager or Operations Manager immediately so that AMAW can properly address the allegations and take appropriate steps to prevent the conduct from escalating and/or to eliminate the harassing conduct.
All Faculty and Staff are obligated to act on any report of alleged Misconduct.
Complainants report should be specific and truthful. It is expected that the specific charges, details of the incident or incidents, names of the individuals involved, the names of any witnesses and any other evidence in support thereof are important.
In any case where there is a reasonable suspicion that criminal actions may have occurred or are occurring, in addition to the reporting process described herein, faculty, staff and employees of the AMAW may be obligated to report such actions to applicable law enforcement authority and to forward all applicable evidence to such law enforcement authority with respect to such actions..

Anonymous Complaints

AMAW cannot fully investigate anonymous complaints. However, we will utilize best efforts to investigate all such claims. AMAW encourages Students to feel comfortable reporting misconduct

Third Party Reports

AMAW will make reasonable efforts to address all third-party complaints.

Timeframe

AMAW does not limit the timeframe for filing a report of Misconduct. Reports can be submitted at any time following an incident, although the AMAW’s ability to take any action may be limited by the status of the alleged respondent as a Currently Enrolled Student or not (See definition of “Student”).

Complainant Request for Confidentiality/Privacy

All complaints are handled in a discrete manner and maintained as confidential as possible during any investigation. AMAW staff and faculty will not publicly discuss in open forums (including public spaces, social media and other forums) a complaint
A complainant may make a request for confidentiality/privacy at any point. This type of request means that the complainant does not want her/his identity known to the respondent and witnesses. AMAW will make all reasonable attempts to comply with a request for privacy or the withdrawal of a report.

Confidentiality/Privacy & Non-Retaliation Policy

AMAW prohibits any form of retaliation against any student, teacher or employee for filing a complaint under this policy or for assisting or participating in an investigation, proceeding or hearing. Anyone who files a complaint or cooperates in an investigation of a complaint under this policy will be protected from any retaliatory action as a result of filing such a complaint or cooperating in an investigation.

Investigation

Student-Teacher Liaison shall be responsible for investigating all reported complaints and allegations concerning violations of this Misconduct Policy. If the Student-Teacher Liaison is subject of the complaint, the Operations Manager shall investigate in place of the Student-Teacher Liaison.
Following the receipt of a complaint, the respondent will be notified that a complaint has been filed and he/she will have the opportunity to submit a written statement within five calendar days, whenever possible. This includes students making a specific complaint about a faculty or staff member.