Guide for those impacted by abusive or disruptive behavior

If you have been impacted by disruptive behaviors in your unit, there are a number of options for sharing your concerns with someone who has the authority to address them.

If you have experienced behavior which involves sexual violence and sexual harassment (SVSH), you may wish to start with a Confidential Resource, such as the PATH to Care Center. Please remember that most employees of the university have 'Responsible Employee' obligations. This means that they must share what they know about sexual violence or sexual harassment affecting a UC Berkeley student (or potentially any university employee) with the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (OPHD), the campus Title IX office. 

How to get support for your well-being

Responding to abusive behavior is challenging and may be distressing. The first thing you should do is check in on your own well-being and take steps to care for yourself. These confidential resources offer support:

How to understand expectations for behavior

Your unit should state behavioral norms clearly and often. If you are not sure what the norms are, ask.

  • If you aren’t sure whether behavior you (or another) experienced violates a norm or crosses a line, the offices listed below can assist, in a confidential or private space, with gaining insight about how to address a concern about behavior that is concerning:

How to raise a concern about somebody else's behavior

Reporting abusive behavior to somebody who can do something about it can have the beneficial effect of getting the behavior to stop. It is also a way to hold the individual accountable for their behavior.

For  minor concerns, you may wish to consult with a person who has responsibility within your unit

    • Faculty might go to the equity advisor or chair.
    • Graduate students might go to the staff or faculty graduate adviser.
    • Undergraduate students might go to the  staff or faculty undergraduate adviser.
    • Staff might go to the MSO or chair.
    • Anyone might go to members of a climate committee.

You may also report abusive conduct through the campus Abusive Conduct Reporting portal, which is overseen by Employee and Labor Relations (ELR). Read more about the Abusive Conduct policy on this ELR website.

Hoped for outcomes/best practices after a concern is raised

These are some of the things you could expect to happen after raising a concern.

  • The person raising the concern can expect to be listened to and supported.
  • The impacted party (if not the one reporting the concern) may be contacted to see what would be helpful, and what outcome they are hoping for.
    • If you are raising a concern about someone else (a student or fellow employee), they may or may not feel comfortable discussing it if contacted by the person you’ve raised it with. Due to privacy considerations, you may not know details about responsive conversations with other individuals, nor whether a matter has been escalated as a potential violation of university policy.
  • Some targeted preventive action could be taken, depending on the situation; for example:
    • Efforts to stop the problematic behavior.
    • Efforts to make a reasonable change to the environment by limiting or setting guidelines for interactions.
  • If the reported behavior appears to violate university policy, an investigation and subsequent disciplinary action may ensue.