The Disciplinary team received a report that two members of staff had engaged in conduct unbecoming a staff member. In an offsite community, both jackalrelated and taylor were involved in an instance of dogpiling, where multiple people were using unsubstantiated rumors to insult and accuse a site user of being a sockpuppet of a previously banned user.
Subsequent investigation found the following:
Jackalrelated and taylor both engaged and targeted that user with insults and subjected them to the same unsubstantiated accusations that others were perpetuating.
Jackalrelated engaged in this activity several times, in unrelated events.
Taylor only commented on this activity once; however, due to taylor's position as Captain, they must be held to an even higher standard as a member of Staff leadership.
This behavior is inappropriate for anyone to engage in, but is made doubly so by the fact that both of these users are members of staff. While staffers are human and are granted agency to engage as they see fit, they are also members of staff and their words/actions reflect upon the entirety of the staff body. As such, we attempt to hold ourselves to a higher standard which was unfortunately not met in these instances.
After extensive deliberation and additional investigation, the Disciplinary team decided to issue an official warning to both staff members in question. The following PMs were sent to both users:
The Disciplinary team has received a complaint about your behavior. The details of this behavior have been recorded in a Disciplinary thread here: <LINK>.
We have spent a great deal of effort to re-engage with the greater community in a way that fosters trust and respect between Staff and the community at large. As such, we must engage with that community that continues to foster the growth towards that goal. The standards by which we must hold ourselves accountable remains high, as our words and actions are granted additional weight as members of staff.
The behavior demonstrated here falls short of that and may have damaged our relationship with the wider SCP community in unknowable and unacceptable ways. As such, you are being issued a formal warning that any future instances of this or similar behavior will be subject to further Disciplinary measures.
While we certainly understand and sympathize with how emotions can run hot in these kinds of situations, letting that guide your words and actions in such a public venue is unacceptable. We expect more out of ourselves as members of staff, as we must be examples of the type of behavior that we wish to foster in the broader community.
Please be more cognizant of this in the future.