By: Jason Parker, JD, CMAA - Oklahoma In today's litigious society, threats of legal action immediately appropriate the attention of district leadership. Allegations of misconduct towards district personnel or students usher an atmosphere of anxiety, fear, and anger. Unfortunately, this state of tension is not conducive to justice being served for all parties involved and often leads to inaction or missteps by those responsible for remediation. Contrastingly, when faced with allegations of misconduct within the Athletic Department, Athletic Directors are encouraged to ACT in line with their mission to serve Student/District interests. Handling allegations, and the investigations that result from them, as an opportunity to diagnose issues and ultimately make programs more efficient, mitigates tension and ushers in a culture of accountability. Below are some steps to help ADs optimize their role as truth-finders when allegations arise. ACT Know that Department Leadership has a legal duty to act when faced with allegations into their department. To survive any type of legal scrutiny, the base line legal standard remains to (A) Investigate the Allegations (C) Conclude if Misconduct Occurred (T) Terminate Wrongdoing. A: Investigate the Allegations Conduct every investigation as though it will end up in a legal proceeding. Accordingly, copious documentation is a requirement. Remember to keep a detailed written log of all interviews and facts uncovered throughout the investigation. If multiple investigators will be used, electronic cloud storage is suggested, to allow real time updates. Determining the scope of the investigation at the outset will allow Directors to ascertain the potency of the situation and potential liability involved. Think “worst case scenario” or if the allegations are completely true, what rules, regulations or statutes have been broken. Is this primarily a League issue, Athletic Department issue, State Association issue, School Board issue, or legal issue? Next, determine who will investigate. This will establish the flow of information and help guard against infringing upon privacy rights of those being investigated. Remember, information may only be shared on a need to know basis. Lastly, be prompt, thorough and impartial in your gathering of information. Flesh out every lead and conduct needed interviews with consistency and courtesy. C: Conclude if Misconduct Occurred The legal standard of proof to be used in these situations is 'Preponderance of the Evidence.' In other words, is it more likely than not that wrongdoing occurred in light of the evidence? This is a much lower standard than 'Beyond a Reasonable Doubt,' used in criminal proceedings. Even if the evidence does not lead to an identifiable conclusion, investigators may still conclude that facts affirming misconduct were evident, however, inconclusive. In any case, conclusions should be formally submitted to superiors and those who lodged the accusations. T: Terminate Wrongdoing If misconduct is found, Athletic Directors must potentially punish or remove perpetrators and develop policies and protocols aimed at remediating illicit actions. Even where misconduct is not found but negative trends emerge, formalized employee training to reverse unacceptable performance is a strong response. Remember, this is ultimately an opportunity to recalibrate best practices and optimize Student programming. ACT Investigate the Allegations
Conclude if Misconduct Occurred
Terminate Wrongdoing
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Best Practices: Using Allegations to Diagnose Department Issues
