USCHA Anti-Harassment Policy

USCHA is dedicated to a safe, productive, and welcoming environment free from discrimination and harassment. As the convener of USCHA, NMAC expects all conference participants (including attendees, event staff, NMAC/USCHA staff, presenters, vendors, guests, contractors, and exhibitors) to treat other participants with respect. NMAC does not tolerate harassment of conference participants in any form. “Harassment” includes, but is not limited to:

Verbal and/or written comments, jokes, or imagery that reinforce negative stereotypes related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, national origin, citizenship, marital status, religion, or sex and any other stats protected under applicable federal, state or local law;
Inappropriate and unwelcome physical contact;
Unwelcome sexual attention, including persistent romantic invitations even after such invitations have been declined; and
Advocating for or encouraging any of the above behavior.

If you are being harassed or have witnessed harassment and would like to make a report, please contact NMAC’s Assistant Director of Conferences Alison McKeithen at 202-930-2567 or send an email to amckeithen@nmac.org. If you wish to report a case of harassment confidentially, send an email to conferences@nmac.org. You can also go directly to the Conference Operations Office . Counselors are available on-site and on-call. If you have been a victim of assault or believe yourself to be in danger, seek help immediately by calling 911 or contacting hotel or conference security.

NMAC will investigate allegations of harassment immediately during the conference. Based on the findings of the investigation, the harasser will be issued a warning and/or removed from the conference.

USCHA receives federal financial assistance from HHS. As a result, the HHS has its own mechanism for reporting harassment. If you believe that you have been discriminated against because of your race, color, national origin, disability, age, sex, or religion in programs or activities that HHS directly operates or to which HHS provides federal financial assistance, you may file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR). You may file a complaint for yourself or for someone else via this link – HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR). Filing a complaint with NMAC/USCHA is not required before filing a complaint of discrimination with HHS OCR. Attendees are allowed to report instances of harassment to both HHS OCR as well as NMAC.

Attendees may also report instances of harassment to NIH directly via email (GranteeHarassment@od.nih.gov), phone (301-480-6701) or on-line portal.

A report of harassment may result in a warning, removal from or denial of access to NMAC-sponsored meetings and events, and exclusion from future NMAC sponsored meetings or events on a temporary or permanent basis. If a participant is asked to leave the meeting because of a report received under this policy, the participant will not receive a refund.