Code of Ethics and Grievance Procedure

While ADAA goes to great lengths to assure fair treatment for all participants and attempts to anticipate problems, there will be occasional issues which come to the attention of the conference staff which require intervention and/or action on the part of the conference staff or an officer of ADAA. This procedural description serves as a guideline for handling such grievances.

When a participant, either orally or in written format, files a grievance and expects action on the complaint, the following actions will be taken.

1.  If the grievance concerns a speaker, the content presented by the speaker, or the style of presentation, the individual filing the grievance will be asked to put his/her comments in written format. The Conference Coordinator will then pass on the comments to the speaker, assuring the confidentiality of the grieved individual. 
2. If the grievance concerns a workshop offering, content, level of presentation, or the facilities in which the workshop was offered, the conference chair will mediate and will be the final arbitrator. If the participant requests action, the conference chair will:
   1. attempt to move the participant to another workshop or
   2. provide a credit for a subsequent year's workshop or 
   3. provide a partial or full refund of the workshop fee.

Actions 2b and 2c will require a written note, documenting the grievance, for record keeping purposes. The note need not be signed by the grieved individual.

3. If the grievance concerns ADAA CE program, in a specific regard, the Conference Coordinator will attempt to arbitrate.

Please contact [email protected] to submit a complaint if you have additional questions.