Hi there!
Thanks for taking the time to read our harassment policy. For your information, this was adapted from our internal corporate policy with the explicit intent of extending it to cover online interaction within the Thunder Lotus Community and towards Thunder Lotus Employees.
tl;dr –
1. Our channels and networks are our home. Our employees and our community members are our family.
2. We want everyone who comes into our home to feel welcome and respected. And we will tolerate no repeatedly disagreeable behavior towards members of our family.
3. Do not come into our home wielding willful disrespect and a general disregard for civil interaction; such behavior is not welcome in our home, and we will ask you to stop. Should you continue, we will kindly ask you to leave.
4. There are a million other homes out there in which you can express yourself in the manners which we collectively deem unacceptable, and we fully encourage you to do so; just not in our home.
Thanks for your help in making the Thunder Lotus family the best community under the sun.
Cheers,
The Thunder Lotus Team.
Effective August 18, 2020.
No Thunder Lotus Employees and members of its Community should ever be the victim of harassment, unwanted attention, or unwanted physical contact. The purpose of this policy is to affirm Thunder Lotus’ commitment to preventing and stopping any situation of psychological or sexual harassment within its company and its Community, including any form of discriminatory harassment, both in physical and online contexts. Thunder Lotus’ Code of Ethics specifically prohibits harassment, and calls on all its Employees and members of its Community to protect their peers, colleagues and Employees. Additionally, Thunder Lotus provides the resources listed below for all members of its Community to use in supporting a safer, more welcoming, and inclusive environment.
First and foremost, we consider as self-evident that harassment is never the victim’s fault. Although many of the items below focus on helping victims of harassment get through a crisis, the onus is on harassers and their communities to discourage harassment and report harassing behavior when it is observed. All Thunder Lotus Employees and members of its Community have a right to work, communicate, create, and exist in a space free of harassment and the threat of harassment.
Though many industries face challenges regarding gender balance, the game and tech industries have been particularly subject to aggressive and targeted harassment campaigns, many of which have been reactions to discussion of gender and representation issues within the industries, their products, and their user communities. This harassment resource is intended to provide Employees and members of the Community with tools to cope with harassment, seek help, and help create a better industry for all of us. It will be updated on a continuing basis as best practices evolve and other resources become available. (If you notice we’re missing an important link or item, or think we’ve gotten something wrong, please let us know at harassment@thunderlotusgames.com with “Harassment Resource” in the subject line.)
This policy applies to all Thunder Lotus’ Employees and members of its Community, as defined below.
Thunder Lotus Employee
Any individual who works part-time or full-time under a contract of employment with Thunder Lotus, whether oral or written, express or implied. This may include individuals employed on a voluntary or pro bono basis.
Thunder Lotus Community Member
Any individual who chooses to interact with Employees or others through social networking sites, chat rooms, forums, e-mail lists and discussion boards directly related to or managed by Thunder Lotus, or related to its products. This includes, but is not limited to:
■ @ThunderLotus, @TLGsupport and @JotunGame on Twitter
■ @ThunderLotusGames, @JotunGame, and @SunderedGame on Facebook
■ Discussion forums for Thunder Lotus titles on Steam
■ Thunder Lotus on Discord
■ The Thunder Lotus Mailing List
■ Thunder Lotus on YouTube
■ @thunderlotus on Instagram
Psychological Harassment
The Labour Standards Act defines psychological harassment as:
“Vexatious conduct that manifests itself either in repeated behaviours, words, acts or actions, which are hostile or unwanted, which undermines the dignity or psychological or physical integrity of the employee and which leads to a harmful work environment for the employee. For greater precision, psychological harassment includes such conduct when it manifests itself in such words, acts or sexual acts. A single serious conduct can also constitute psychological harassment if it is harmful and has a continuous adverse effect on the employee.”
The definition includes discriminatory harassment as defined the Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
Behaviours that may be related to psychological harassment:
■ Intimidation, cyberbullying, threats, isolation;
■ Offensive or defamatory comments or gestures about a person or their work;
■ Verbal abuse;
■ Bashing.
Behaviours that may be related to sexual harassment:
■ Any form of unwanted attention or advance with sexual connotations, for example:
■ insistent solicitation,
■ glances, kisses or touching,
■ sexist slurring, rude remarks;
■ Proposals, jokes or images with sexual connotations by any means, technological or otherwise.
Harassment must be distinguished from other situations such as interpersonal conflict, work-related stress, difficult work constraints or the normal exercise of stewardship rights (management of attendance at work, work organization, disciplinary action, etc.).
Online Harassment
Online harassment is the use of the internet to threaten, intimidate, or shame an individual. Methods of online harassment can include but are not limited to posting threats, insults, or personal information (also known as doxing); stalking via email and social media platforms; denial of service (DoS) attacks directed against the target’s website; and the coordination of offline harassment campaigns (e.g. contacting a target’s employer or family members), stalking, swatting (false emergency services calls designed to send police or bomb squads to a target’s home), or bomb threats.
Behaviours that may be related to online harassment:
■ Behaviours targeted at a specific person or persons
■ Repeated attempts to interact with or get a reaction from the targeted person online, on the phone, or in person by individuals who have been ignored, told to stop and/or been blocked
■ Personal or private information about the target being used or disseminated (doxing)
■ Encouraging others to make similar remarks or engage in similar behavior
■ Contact or comments intended to cause distress, inspire fear, or provoke anger in the target
■ Contacting the target’s friends, family, and co-workers
Online harassment must be distinguished from other situations such as disagreement, rudeness (unless it escalates or is persistent) and profanity (unless it escalates or is persistent).
Thunder Lotus does not tolerate or permit any form of psychological, sexual or online harassment within its company and its Community, either:
■ by managers to salaried Employees;
■ by colleagues to colleagues;
■ by salaried persons to their superiors;
■ by members of its Community to salaried Employees;
■ by salaried Employees to members of its Community;
■ by members of its Community to members of its Community;
■ from anyone associated with it: representative, customer, user, supplier, business partner, visitor or other.
Thunder Lotus is committed to taking reasonable steps to:
■ Provide a workplace and a Community free of harassment to protect the dignity and psychological and physical integrity of individuals;
■ Disseminate the policy in a way that makes it accessible to all staff, through a copy given to each Employee;
■ Disseminate the policy in a way that makes it accessible to all members of the Community, through a copy posted on our website (thunderlotusgames.com/harassment)
■ Prevent or, as appropriate, stop harassment by:
■ Setting up a procedure for handling complaints and reports related to situations of psychological, sexual or online harassment within the company,
■ Ensuring that everyone understands and respects the policy,
■ Promoting respect among individuals.
It is the responsibility of all Employees and members of our Community to engage in behaviour that promotes the maintenance of an environment free of psychological, sexual or online harassment.
1. Where possible, the Employee who believes they are being harassed, whether it be psychological, sexual or online harassment, should first inform the person concerned that their behaviour is undesirable and that the person should stop it. The Employee should also note the date and details of the incidents and the steps taken to try to resolve the situation.
2. If this first intervention is not desired or if the harassment continues, the Employee should report the situation to one of the persons duly appointed by the employer in order to identify the problematic behaviours and the means required.
3. A complaint can be made verbally or in writing. The alleged behaviour and the details of the incidents must be described as accurately as possible, so that an intervention can be carried out quickly to stop the situation.
4. The persons duly appointed to receive Employee complaints and reports are identified in the employer’s internal policy.
5. Any person who witnesses a harassment situation is also asked to report it to one of the duly appointed persons mentioned above.
1. Where possible, the Thunder Lotus’ Community member who believes they are being harassed online should first inform the person concerned that their behaviour is undesirable and that the person should stop it. The Community member should also note the date and details of the incidents and the steps taken to try to resolve the situation.
2. If this first intervention is not desired or if the harassment continues, the Community member should report the situation to a Thunder Lotus employee or one of Moderators appointed by Thunder Lotus in order to identify the problematic behaviours and the means required.
3. A complaint can be made to a Thunder Lotus Employee or one of Moderators appointed by Thunder Lotus. The alleged behaviour and the details of the incidents must be described as accurately as possible, so that an intervention can be carried out quickly to stop the situation.
4. Any person who witnesses a harassment situation is also asked to report it to a Thunder Lotus Employee or one of Moderators.
5. Community Complaints or Reports of Harassment either personally experienced or witnessed can be communicated in writing to harassment@thunderlotusgames.com
6. Any Community Complaints or Reports of Harassment received are subject to the Thunder Lotus Privacy Policy.
Thunder Lotus commits to:
■ Take charge of the complaint or report as soon as possible;
■ Preserve the dignity and privacy of the individuals involved, that is, the person who made the complaint, the person who is the subject of the complaint and the witnesses;
■ Ensure that all concerned are treated with humanity, fairness and objectivity and that adequate support is provided;
■ Protect the confidentiality of the response process, including complaint or reporting information;
■ Offer Employees the right to hold a meeting with them with their consent to resolve the situation;
■ Conduct, if needed, an immediate and objective investigation, or assign responsibility to an external stakeholder. Those affected will be informed of the conclusion of this approach. If the investigation does not establish that there was unacceptable behaviour, all physical/digital evidence will be retained for two years and subsequently destroyed;
■ Take all reasonable steps to resolve the situation, including appropriate disciplinary action.
Any Employee who commits a breach of the harassment policy will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal. The choice of the applicable measure will take into account the seriousness and consequences of the actions and the previous record of the person who made them.
A person who lays false charges for the purpose of harm is also subject to appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including dismissal.
In the treatment and resolution of a workplace harassment situation, no one should be prejudiced or retaliated against by the employer.
Thunder Lotus commits to:
■ Take charge of the complaint or report as soon as possible
■ Preserve the dignity and privacy of the individuals involved, that is, the person who made the complaint, the person who is the subject of the complaint and the witnesses;
■ Ensure that all concerned are treated with humanity, fairness and objectivity and that adequate support is provided;
■ Take all reasonable steps to resolve the situation, including appropriate disciplinary action up to and including a permanent ban.
Any member of the Community who commits a breach of the harassment policy will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action, up to and including a permanent ban. The choice of the applicable measure will take into account the seriousness and consequences of the actions and the previous record of the person who made them.
A person who lays false charges for the purpose of harm is also subject to appropriate disciplinary action.
In the treatment and resolution of a workplace harassment situation, no one should be prejudiced or retaliated against by the employer.
