Tag: Harassment & Grievances

In October, San Diego Harassment Grievance Officers (HGOs) were notified by the Sacramento HGO of a potential harassment grievance against Ricky Marin, under Resolution 33. Three separate individuals eventually filed grievances against Ricky Marin. with the San Diego HGOs alleging verbal and physical abusive behavior, inappropriate sexualized comments, emotional manipulation, dishonesty, and intimidation. Due to strict confidentiality commitments made to the reporting parties and Ricky Marin, further details of the harassment will not be shared publicly, but the parties reported that the harassment occurred at various points between 2017 and 2021 and caused them harm which led to filing these grievances.

Based upon the evidence and testimony presented to the HGOs by the three reporting parties, Ricky Marin, and witness accounts as selected by each party, the San Diego DSA Leadership Council has determined that Ricky Marin engaged in harassment as defined by Resolution 33. The Leadership Council has therefore taken the following actions in regards to Ricky Marin.:

Lifetime ban on political endorsements from the DSA San Diego chapter
Lifetime ban on leadership roles within the DSA San Diego chapter
One year suspension from DSA

These actions have been taken with consideration to the safety of the filers, the integrity and reputation of DSA chapters in San Diego and Sacramento, and the ongoing efforts of DSA to keep its members free of harassment in a safe, inclusive environment to conduct whatever business they feel necessary at all DSA meetings, events, and activities. The Leadership Council believes these actions are appropriate given the seriousness of the harassment committed by Ricky Marin.

In January a process was created to deal with a case of harassment and manipulative behavior from former Co-chair Nate R. 

Nate was a member of DSA SD (co-chair until October 2020) and a member of the Revolutionary Marxist Caucus (RMC) within DSA SD. 

The subject of his harassment (hereafter called the ORP, short for “original reporting person”) confronted Nate about his actions and shortly after he resigned from DSA. Soon after this, his actions came to light and he was expelled from RMC. The chapter Harassment and Grievance Officer (HGO) was informed and investigated his actions. This investigation concluded with Nate being barred from rejoining DSA. An internal announcement was made of this decision. 

Nate agreed to engage in a restorative justice process to address his behavior, created by the HGO with input from the ORP and RMC. Within this process Nate drafted a statement of accountability (attached) and worked on requests from RMC such as writing a code of conduct for engaging with comrades, and requests from the ORP, such as analyzing how his behaviors were influenced by the works of Robert Greene. 

Nate’s statement can be accessed here. 

While the process was originally planned to be one year long, all involved have decided it is best to end it with Nate’s statement. Nate was barred from rejoining DSA, and the process was created to give him a possible pathway back to membership. However, Nate has stated that he doesn’t intend to come back to DSA at this time. The process is left without a goal. Additionally it was not designed to take into account new mental health diagnosis and treatment he is undergoing and is inadequate to address this in a way that supports Nate and doesn’t put undue labor on others in the process. 

Those involved in the process do not believe Nate is irredeemable. Nate has made strides in the process and we hope he continues to do the work of unlearning toxic behavior. 

The ORP has asked that the specifics not be discussed and we choose to honor that. If there are other questions or concerns the HGO can be contacted at sandiegohgo@gmail.com

It’s important to note the documents/social media in question are run by an independent group, some not even affiliated with our chapter. We have no authority to remove the Instagram or any other document not released on official DSA channels.
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In recent days, the leadership of the Democratic Socialists of America-San Diego (DSA-SD) has been informed of allegations of online harassment between members of our organization and members of the San Diego Tenants Union (SDTU). SDTU has attracted members from many external organizations in its pursuit to build tenant power, including a significant membership from DSA-SD. As we take all accusations of harassment seriously, an immediate internal inquiry into the matter was launched.

The processes in place allow us to investigate issues of harassment to hold our membership accountable for abuses and to protect members from bullying and intimidation when participating in coalition work. DSA-SD has consulted directly with our National Harassment and Grievance Officer (HGO) on this matter: on March 19th, 2021 an external complaint was sent to our National HGO from a member of the SDTU. A response was filed stating that National does not conduct regional investigations. In this instance, mediating members of SDTU reached out to DSA-SD directly to investigate and address these allegations on the 10th of May, 2021. DSA-SD has convened a special committee to review the background and veracity of the claims of harassment made both against our chapter members and against founding members of the SDTU. The National HGO has requested information as to the outcome of the investigation. After a thorough inquest, this body finds that there is disproportionate harm perpetrated by the members of the SDTU to members of DSA-SD. DSA-SD stands in solidarity with its membership that has been doxxed and harassed, while calling strongly for implicated members of SDTU to cease its campaign of harassment and intimidation against DSA-SD members.

Democratic Socialists of America-San Diego has worked in good-faith partnership with The San Diego Tenants Union over the past 18 months to join SDTU in building working class power. We have engaged in numerous struggles to prevent eviction, fight for better living conditions, and secure resettlement dollars for members being displaced alongside the SDTU.

On May 12, 2021, an SDTU Arbitration Committee consisting of four SDTU members (two of whom are also members of DSA-SD), released their findings.Reviewing both the arbitration and testimony, this conflict has two broad terms:

• a. A group including members of DSA-SD released an Instagram statement asking for accountability in a matter of harassment from a person associated with members of SDTU. After the Instagram page was posted, it was presented to the Leadership Council (LC) of DSA-SD on March 4th, 2021 for acknowledgement. DSA-SD has no authority to coerce members of the IG page to remove its contents.
• b. Subsequently, members associated with SDTU asked for the removal of this Instagram page and engaged in defamatory accusations and online harassment of multiple DSA-SD members on both social media and SDTU Slack workspaces, including the release of full names, addresses and partner names of DSA-SD members (doxxing) to SDTU workspaces and social media. This harassment includes the reposting of information from Keywiki, a right-wing website which maintains intimate lists of leftist organizers.

The SDTU arbiters have recommended four concrete actions to ease tensions within SDTU. The DSA-SD calls on its membership within SDTU to follow these terms while continuing their work within the community. The DSA-SD also calls on implicated members of SDTU to act as good-faith partners and to cease the harassment of DSA-SD members in both online and physical spaces. DSA-SD finds the treatment of our members by members of SDTU unacceptable and we stand in solidarity with our membership and their right to complete work in a healthy environment.

The DSA-SD is committed to creating a safe environment that empowers the important work of our membership and collaborating organizations. We appreciate all those who bring allegations of harassment to our attention so these serious matters can be investigated. It remains our highest priority to maintain a harassment-free space where members and comrades alike are able to devote their focus to building strength in unity. We have a world to win.

In order to promote the safety of our community and perform the hard work of unwinding colonization and patriarchy, DSA San Diego appoints two harassment grievance officers (HGOs) each year. This year, we also ask that our HGOs act to distinguish and advise on the resolution of intramember conflicts unrelated to identity.

If you are a member in good standing and willing to serve in this essential role, please email sandiegodsa@gmail.com no later than Wednesday, June 12 with a one-page statement on your qualifications and interest in the position. Please self-disclose any facets of your identity distinguishing you from the cishet male hegemony prevailing in our culture.

Members are invited to convene to select two new HGOs to serve one-year terms. A meeting has been scheduled for Wednesday, June 19 at the Point Loma Library. To center marginalized voices, our HGO policy requires a majority of non-cis male/people of color to constitute the ad hoc selection committee. Femmes/members of color are encouraged to participate in this vital meeting. If the major portion of attendees are cis white men, those members will be asked to organize a smaller subset to continue with the meeting.

Due to the sensitive nature of this incident, We, the Steering Committee, felt it important to release a statement to our membership, for transparency, and accountability. We would like to alert those reading this document, and those linked therein, that they contain mentions of assault and abuse. We would also like to remind our membership that our Harassment Grievance Officers (HGOs) are available, should you need them; you may email them at sandiegohgo@gmail.com.

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DSA San Diego chapter members in good standing are encouraged to participate in a special meeting convened by the Socialist Feminist Working Group on Thursday, May 3 at 7:00 p.m. at the Brown Building (4133 Poplar Street). The meeting’s focus will be appointment of two Harassment Grievance Officers, key positions required by DSA national and defined by our imminent DSA San Diego Grievance Procedure.

Deciding votes will be cast by a majority woman-identifying/non-cisgender body, with representation by members of color and non-cisgender members mandatory for a quorum.

DSA San Diego is seeking two members in good standing to serve one-year terms as Harassment Grievance Officers (HGOs). HGOs will take responsibility for facilitating grievances filed by DSA San Diego members related to all forms of identity-based oppression perpetrated by fellow members, a process crafted with the intent of preserving our chapter as a safe, fair space modeling the world we’re trying to build through socialism. Further, HGOs will survey members and document their willingness to participate in ad hoc grievance proceedings.

Interested candidates are asked to notify the DSA Steering Committee at sandiegodsa@gmail.com and to participate in an appointment meeting convened by the Socialist Feminist Working Group at the Brown Building (4133 Poplar Street), May 3 at 7:00 p.m.