Appeals and Revocation — Due Process for Ethics-Related Actions¶

Purpose¶

This SOP defines how the Guild handles complaints, appeals, sanctions, and reinstatement for actions that affect a member's profile role, milestone badges, or access to member-only programs. It exists to give every member a predictable, written process when something goes wrong — whether they are challenging a Guild decision, responding to a complaint, or asking for a sanction to be reconsidered.

Critical framing. The Guild does not issue the Ganjier credential (ADR-0008). What this document governs is everything the Guild does control: profile roles, milestone badges, public-directory listing, Co-op eligibility, post-nominal use rights inside Guild contexts, and event/event-program access. We never describe a Guild action as "revoking a credential" — that is not within the Guild's authority. Where a credentialing-body action by the Ganjier Institute (or successor) is relevant, this SOP coordinates with them but does not speak for them.

Scope¶

Covers four classes of action:

Profile-role change — moving a member between Friend of the Guild → Student → Certified Member outside the normal lapse/recertification flow (e.g., as a sanction).
Milestone-badge action — granting, withholding, or removing the GPS L1 milestone badge.
Program access action — suspending or removing access to faculty/assessor roles, the public-opt-in directory, the Co-op (Guild Collective), or specific events.
Membership termination — full removal from the Guild, ending all subscription tiers and roles.

Out of scope: routine subscription lapses (handled by recertification.md), payment disputes (WooCommerce billing process), and disciplinary actions taken by the Ganjier Institute against the underlying CG credential (the Institute's own process governs).

Roles and bodies¶

Body	Role
Membership & Ethics Committee (M&EC)	Standing body of 5 voting members + 1 Director liaison. Reviews complaints, issues findings, and recommends sanctions. Conflict-of-interest rules per `instructor-and-assessor-standards.md` §6 apply.
Director	Receives M&EC recommendations, has final authority on sanctions, and is the named respondent for appeals. May delegate hearing roles but not the final decision.
Appeals Panel	Ad hoc 3-person panel convened for each appeal: 1 Board member (chair, non-M&EC), 1 Certified Member elected at the most recent AGM, 1 outside SME contracted for the panel. No member of the original M&EC review may serve.
Complainant / Respondent	The person filing the complaint and the member subject to the action. Either may be supported by an advisor of their choice (non-attorney, unless a parallel legal matter exists).

Triggering events¶

Any one of the following starts the process described in §6:

A written complaint submitted via the Ethics Concern Form (forms/ethics-concern.md) by a member, staff, contractor, or member of the public.
A finding of assessor calibration drift or COI violation flagged under instructor-and-assessor-standards.md §4–6.
Confirmed fraud or misrepresentation detected during identity verification (exam-administration.md §4) or during a directory/listing audit.
A safety incident at a Guild event or program meeting the threshold in governance/code-of-conduct.md §8.
A Director-initiated review based on a credible third-party report (e.g., regulatory action against the member by the Institute or a state board).

Possible sanctions¶

Listed roughly from least to most severe. The M&EC selects the least restrictive sanction that addresses the harm and prevents recurrence.

#	Sanction	Effect	Reversible?
S1	Private warning	Documented in member file. No external visibility.	n/a
S2	Required remediation	Course, calibration session, or supervised reassessment within a deadline.	On completion
S3	Public-directory removal	Certified Member is delisted from the opt-in public directory. Internal directory listing unchanged.	Yes — by reapplying after sanction term
S4	GPS L1 milestone removal	The historical milestone badge is removed from the member's profile. (Distinct from S6; affects display only.)	Yes — by re-earning
S5	Faculty/assessor inactive status	Removed from the active faculty roster per `instructor-and-assessor-standards.md` §7.	Yes — through reactivation pathway
S6	Profile-role downgrade	Certified Member → Student, OR Student → Friend of the Guild. WooCommerce subscription tier is moved on the same date. Public-directory listing, Co-op eligibility, and post-nominal-use rights inside Guild contexts end immediately.	Yes — through full recertification per `recertification.md`
S7	Co-op eligibility loss (standalone)	Removed from the Guild Collective member roll without changing Guild profile role. Triggers Collective-side offboarding per the Shared Services Agreement.	Yes — by Collective reinstatement after Guild sanction term ends
S8	Membership termination	All subscription tiers cancelled, profile archived, Guild access ended. Bar to reapplication: 12 months minimum, longer if M&EC recommends.	Conditional — see §9

Co-op eligibility note. S6 automatically triggers S7 (Certified Member is the only role with Co-op access — see membership/tiers.md). S7 can also be issued standalone for behavior tied specifically to Collective conduct without a Guild-role change.

Post-nominal note. The Guild does not control whether a member uses "CG" outside Guild contexts — that is governed by the Institute's policy. What the Guild can do is refuse to display the post-nominal in directories and publications it controls, and require its removal from any member-built page hosted on Guild infrastructure.

Process¶

6.1 Intake (Days 0–5)¶

Complaint received via the Ethics Concern Form. The Director acknowledges receipt within 2 business days.
The Director performs a triage check: is the complaint within scope, sufficiently specific, and not vexatious? If not, the Director closes the matter with a written explanation to the complainant. The complainant may invoke the appeals path in §7 against a closure.
If in scope, the Director forwards to the M&EC chair within 5 business days of receipt.

6.2 Notice and response (Days 5–20)¶

The M&EC chair sends the respondent a written notice that includes: the substance of the complaint, the SOP section(s) implicated, the documents the M&EC will consider, and the response deadline (default 15 calendar days, extendable on request).
The respondent submits a written response and may identify witnesses or supporting documents.
If the matter involves immediate safety risk, the Director may impose an interim suspension of the specific access at issue (e.g., faculty status, event attendance) pending the full review. Interim suspension does not prejudge outcome and is itself appealable on an expedited timeline (§7.4).

6.3 M&EC review (Days 20–45)¶

M&EC meets, reviews the complaint, response, and supporting materials, and may interview either party.
Standard of proof: preponderance of the evidence (more likely than not).
M&EC issues a written finding and recommendation identifying: facts found, SOP/Code sections violated (if any), recommended sanction from the §5 list, and a remediation plan if applicable.
The recommendation goes to the Director within 45 calendar days of intake unless extended in writing (max one extension of 30 days, communicated to both parties).

6.4 Director decision (Days 45–60)¶

The Director reviews the M&EC finding and either: (a) accepts and orders the sanction, (b) accepts the finding but selects a different sanction (with written reasons), or © rejects the finding and dismisses (with written reasons).
Decision is sent in writing to both complainant and respondent. The notice includes: the finding, the sanction (if any), the effective date, the term, the remediation plan, and the appeal pathway and deadline per §7.

Appeals¶

7.1 Right to appeal¶

The respondent may appeal any sanction issued under §6.4 except S1 (private warning), which is final at the Director level.
The complainant may appeal only a dismissal under §6.1 or §6.4©, and only on the ground that the M&EC overlooked material evidence or applied the wrong SOP section.
Appeals are filed in writing within 15 calendar days of the Director's decision notice, addressed to the Board Chair via forms/appeal-request.md.

7.2 Grounds¶

An appeal must identify at least one of:

Procedural irregularity in §6 that materially affected the outcome.
New evidence not reasonably available during the M&EC review.
Sanction disproportionate to the finding (the appellant must propose a more proportional sanction).
Bias or COI of an M&EC member or the Director that was not disclosed at the time of review.

A general disagreement with the finding is not sufficient grounds.

7.3 Appeals Panel review¶

The Board Chair convenes the Appeals Panel within 10 business days of a properly filed appeal.
Panel reviews the §6 record plus any new evidence cited under §7.2. Panel may interview either party but does not re-hear the entire matter.
Panel decision options: (a) affirm the sanction, (b) modify the sanction (up or down within the §5 list), © remand to M&EC for limited re-review on a specific question, or (d) vacate the sanction.
Panel issues written decision within 30 calendar days of convening. Panel decision is final within the Guild process; no further internal appeal.

7.4 Expedited interim-suspension appeal¶

If the appeal is solely against an interim suspension imposed under §6.2, the Appeals Panel must convene and decide within 10 business days of filing. The panel may stay the interim suspension pending the full §6 review.

Reinstatement¶

Members under S3, S4, S5, S6, or S7 may apply for reinstatement after the sanction term ends (or after meeting any conditions the Director attached). Process:

Sanction	Reinstatement pathway
S3 (public-directory removal)	Written request to M&EC; reinstatement is presumptively granted if remediation completed and no new complaints in the sanction term.
S4 (GPS L1 milestone removal)	Member must re-attempt the GPS L1 milestone assessment per `programs/certification/exam-administration.md`. Prior milestone history is noted as "removed and re-earned" with the date.
S5 (faculty/assessor inactive)	Reactivation pathway in `instructor-and-assessor-standards.md` §7 (calibration session + COI re-disclosure).
S6 (profile-role downgrade)	Full recertification per `recertification.md` §6 (Reinstatement). For Certified Member restoration: Institute confirmation of CG status in good standing plus Guild-side recertification.
S7 (Co-op eligibility loss)	Joint review: Guild side confirms sanction term complete; Collective board votes per its bylaws. Both must approve.
S8 (membership termination)	After the bar period, member may submit a new application with a statement of changed circumstances. Application goes to the Board (not M&EC) and requires a ⅔ vote. Director recusal if Director was involved in the original decision.

Records and confidentiality¶

All complaints, responses, findings, decisions, and appeal records are stored in the Ethics Case File system, retention 10 years from final action (matches exam-administration.md §10).
Access is limited to: the M&EC, the Director, the Appeals Panel for the specific case, and Board officers under bylaws audit rights.
The complainant and respondent each receive copies of: the complaint, the response, the M&EC finding, the Director decision, and any appeal decision. They do not receive the full M&EC deliberation notes.
Public communication: the Guild does not publicly identify members under S1–S5. S6, S7, and S8 may be reflected in the directory (e.g., a Certified Member who is downgraded to Student is no longer listed in the public directory; their internal listing is updated). The Guild does not publish the reason for any sanction unless required by law or by the member's own consent.

Anti-retaliation¶

Retaliation against a complainant, respondent, witness, or M&EC member for participating in this process is itself a violation of the Code of Conduct and is grounds for sanction up to and including S8. This applies to retaliation in any forum the Guild controls (member hubs, events, the Co-op) and to retaliation by leadership against members.

Annual review¶

The M&EC reports anonymized aggregate data to the Board annually: number of complaints, intake-to-decision time, sanction distribution, appeal rate, and reversal rate on appeal. The report is published in the Guild's annual transparency summary. No individual case data is published without consent.

Forms referenced¶

forms/ethics-concern.md — complaint intake (Audience: Public)
forms/appeal-request.md — appeal filing (Audience: Member)
forms/interim-suspension-notice.md — Director-issued (Audience: Internal)
forms/sanction-decision-notice.md — Director-issued (Audience: Internal)
forms/reinstatement-request.md — member-initiated (Audience: Member)

Change log¶

v0.1 (2026-05-09) — Initial draft. Reflects locked tier model: Friend / Student / Certified Member; GPS L1 as milestone badge; Co-op = Guild Collective (Maine cooperative); ADR-0008 boundary on Guild credential authority. Coordinates with instructor-and-assessor-standards.md §6 (COI), recertification.md §6 (reinstatement), and exam-administration.md §10 (records retention).