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Harassment Policies: New Allegations Show More Work To Be Done

The specter of sexual harassment has once again risen up in tabletop gaming circles. Conventions are supposed to be places where gamers and geeks can be themselves and embrace their loves. Conventions need clear and well formulated harassment policies, and they need to enforce them. In this instance the allegations from multiple women have taken place at gaming conventions and gathering in different locations around the country. In one case, the harassment was took place over the course of years and spilled over into electronic formats.

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The specter of sexual harassment has once again risen up in tabletop gaming circles. Conventions are supposed to be places where gamers and geeks can be themselves and embrace their loves. Conventions need clear and well formulated harassment policies, and they need to enforce them. In this instance the allegations from multiple women have taken place at gaming conventions and gathering in different locations around the country. In one case, the harassment was took place over the course of years and spilled over into electronic formats.


The alleged harasser in these cases was Sean Patrick Fannon, President of Evil Beagle Games, Brand Manager for Savage Rifts at Pinnacle Entertainment Group, as well as being a game designer and developer with a long history in the tabletop role-playing industry.

There is a long and untenable policy of harassment at conventions that stretches back to science fiction and fantasy fandom in the 1960s. Atlanta's Dragon*Con has been a lightning rod in the discussions about safety at geeky conventions after one of the convention's founders was arrested and pled guilty to three charges of molestation. We have also covered reports of harassment at conventions such as Paizo Con, and inappropriate or harassing behavior by notable industry figures. It is clear that clear harassment policies and firm enforcement of them is needed in spaces where members of our community gather, in order that attendees feel safe to go about their hobby. Some companies, such as Pelgrane Press, now refuse to attend conventions where a clear harassment policy is not available.

Several women have approached me to tell me about encounters with Fannon. Some of them asked not to be named, or to use their reports for background verification only. We also reached out to Sean Patrick Fannon for his comments, and he was willing to address the allegations.

The women that I spoke with had encounters with Fannon that went back to 2013 and 2014 but also happened as recently as the summer of 2017. Each of the locations were in different parts of the country, but all of them occurred when Fannon was a guest of the event.

The worse of the two incidents related to me happened at a convention in the Eastern part of the United States. In going back over texts and messages stretching back years the woman said that it "is frustrating [now] to read these things" because of the cajoling and almost bullying approach that Fannon would use in the messages. She said that Fannon approached her at the con suite of the convention, and after speaking with her for a bit and playing a game with a group in the suite he showed her explicit photos on his cellphone of him engaged in sex acts with a woman.

Fannon's ongoing harassment of this woman would occur both electronically and in person, when they would both be at the same event, and over the course of years he would continue to suggest that she should engage in sexual acts, either with him alone, or with another woman.

Fannon denies the nature of the event, saying "I will assert with confidence that at no time would such a sharing have occurred without my understanding explicit consent on the part of all parties. It may be that, somehow, a miscommunication or misunderstanding occurred; the chaos of a party or social gathering may have created a circumstance of all parties not understanding the same thing within such a discourse. Regardless, I would not have opened such a file and shared it without believing, sincerely, it was a welcome part of the discussion (and in pursuit of further, mutually-expressed intimate interest)."

The second woman, at a different gaming-related event in another part of the country, told of how Fannon, over the course of a day at the event, asked her on four different occasions for hugs, or physical contact with her. Each time she clearly said no to him. The first time she qualified her answer with a "I don't even know you," which prompted Fannon after he saw her for a second time to say "Well, you know me now." She said that because of the multiple attempts in a short period of time that Fannon's behavior felt predatory to her. Afterwards he also attempted to connect with her via Facebook.

Afterwards, this second woman contacted the group that organized the event to share what happened and they reached out to Fannon with their concerns towards his behavior. According to sources within the organization at the time, Fannon - as with the first example - described it to the organizers as a misunderstanding on the woman's part. When asked, he later clarified to us that the misunderstanding was on his own side, saying "Honestly, I should have gotten over myself right at the start, simply owned that I misunderstood, and apologized. In the end, that's what happened, and I walked away from that with a pretty profound sense of how to go forward with my thinking about the personal space of those I don't know or know only in passing."

Both women faced ongoing pressure from Fannon, with one woman the experiences going on for a number of years after the initial convention meeting. In both cases he attempted to continue contact via electronic means with varying degrees of success. A number of screen shots from electronic conversations with Fannon were shared with me by both women.

Diane Bulkeley was willing to come forward and speak on the record of her incidents with Fannon. Fannon made seemingly innocent, and yet inappropriate comments about her body and what he wanted to do with her. She is part of a charity organization that had Fannon as a guest. What happened to her was witnessed by another woman with whom I spoke about that weekend. As Bulkeley heard some things, and her witness others, their experiences are interwoven to describe what happened. Bulkeley described this first encounter at the hotel's elevators: "We were on the floor where our rooms were to go downstairs to the convention floor. I was wearing a tank top and shirt over it that showed my cleavage. He was staring at my chest and said how much he loved my shirt and that I should wear it more often as it makes him hot. For the record I can't help my cleavage is there." Bulkeley went on to describe her mental state towards this "Paying a lady a compliment is one thing, but when you make a direct comment about their chest we have a problem."

Later on in the same day, while unloading some boxes for the convention there was another incident with Fannon. Bulkeley described this: "Well, [the witness and her husband] had to move their stuff from a friends airplane hangar (we all use as storage for cars and stuff) to a storage until next to their house. Apparently Sean, while at the hanger, made grunt noises about my tank top (it was 80 outside) while Tammy was in the truck. I did not see it. But she told me about it. Then as we were unloading the truck at the new facility Sean kept looking down my shirt and saying I have a great view etc. Her husband said to him to knock it off. I rolled my eyes, gave him a glare and continued to work. I did go and put on my event day jacket (light weight jacket) to cover up a little."

The witness, who was in the truck with Fannon, said that he "kept leering down at Diane, glancing down her shirt and making suggestive sounds." The witness said that Fannon commented "'I'm liking the view from up here.'"

Bulkeley talked about how Fannon continued his behavior later on in a restaurant, having dinner with some of the guests of the event. Fannon made inappropriate comments about her body and embarrassed her in front of the other, making her feel uncomfortable throughout the dinner.

Bulkeley said that Fannon also at one point touched her hair without asking, and smelled it as well. "[Fannon] even would smell my long hair. He begged me to not cut it off at a charity function that was part of the weekend's event." She said that he also pressed his pelvis tightly against her body while hugging her. These incidents occurred at a convention during the summer of 2017.

Fannon denies these events. "The comments and actions attributed to me simply did not happen; I categorically and absolutely deny them in their entirety."

When asked for comment, and being informed that this story was being compiled Fannon commented "I do not recall any such circumstance in which the aftermath included a discourse whereby I was informed of distress, anger, or discomfort." He went on to say "The only time I recall having ever been counseled or otherwise spoken to about my behavior in such matters is the Gamers Giving/Total Escape Games situation discussed above. The leader of the organization at that time spoke to me specifically, asked me to be aware that it had been an issue, and requested I be aware of it in the future. It was then formally dropped, and that was the end of it until this time."

There were further reports; however, we have respected the wishes of those women who asked to remain anonymous for fear of online harassment. In researching this article, I talked to multiple women and other witnesses.

About future actions against the alleged behaviors he also said "It is easy, after all, to directly attack and excise obviously predatory and harassing behavior. It is much more difficult to point out and correct behavior that falls within more subtle presentations, and it's more difficult to get folks to see their actions as harmful when they had no intention to cause harm, based on their assumptions of what is and isn't appropriate. It's good for us to look at the core assumptions that lead to those behaviors and continue to challenge them. That's how real and lasting change within society is achieved."

Fannon's weekly column will no longer be running on E.N. World.

Have you suffered harassment at the hands of someone, industry insider or otherwise, at a gaming convention? If you would like to tell your story, you can reach out to me via social media about any alleged incidents. We can speak confidentially, but I will have to know the identity of anyone that I speak with.

This does open up the question of: At what point do conventions become responsible for the actions of their guest, when they are not more closely scrutinizing the backgrounds of those guests? One woman, who is a convention organizer, with whom I spoke for the background of this story told me that word gets around, in the world of comic conventions, when guests and creators cause problems. Apparently this is not yet the case in the world of tabletop role-playing game conventions, because there are a growing number of publishers and designers who have been outed for various types of harassing behavior, but are still being invited to be guest, and in some cases even guests of honor, at gaming conventions around the country. The message that this sends to women who game is pretty clear.

More conventions are rolling out harassment policies for guests and attendees of their conventions. Not only does this help to protect attendees from bad behavior, but it can also help to protect conventions from bad actors within the various communities that gather at our conventions. As incidents of physical and sexual harassment are becoming more visible, it becomes more and more clear that something needs to be done.

additional editorial contributions by Morrus
 

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Particle_Man

Explorer
There is also a "who watches the watchers" possibility. Like, there should be a means of reporting harassers to other people if the harassers are themselves normally the people to whom you report harassers. And this has to be formalized enough that we don't get "But John couldn't have done that; he's a friend of ours!" situations where the harassment claim gets dismissed out of hand.
 


Umbran

Mod Squad
Staff member
Supporter
Let us stop talking in generalities, and look at an actual example of a convention anti-harassment policy. If you put your internet searching skills to use, you can find several examples. There's actually some basic boilerplate that's been developed for the purpose, used mostly verbatim across many smaller cons. For example:

"Foo-Con is dedicated to providing a harassment-free convention experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, or religion, or any other factor. We do not tolerate harassment of convention attendees in any form. Convention attendees violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the convention without a refund at the discretion of the convention organizers.

Harassment includes, but is not limited to, offensive verbal comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, or religion. It also includes display of sexual images in public spaces, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of games or other events, inappropriate physical contact, unwelcome sexual attention, bathroom policing, and unwelcome simulated combat using realistic or non-realistic weapon props. Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.

If a participant engages in harassing behavior, the convention organizers may take any action they deem appropriate, including warning the offender or expulsion from the convention with no refund. If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact a member of the convention staff immediately

Convention Staff will be happy to help participants contact Hotel security or local law enforcement if desired, provide escorts, or otherwise assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe for the duration of the convention."


Who thinks this is too vague, such that attendees capable of reading the policy will somehow not be aware of what is and isn't acceptable?

Note that some cons are starting to have attendees sign a document to certify that they've seen the policy, and accept it, so there is no excuse for not having read it.

One of my local cons uses a variation of this policy. Want me to go into what they did when I made a report of a harassment incident?
 
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UngainlyTitan

Legend
Supporter
I do not think a super detailed code is useful. Too much verbiage and no-one will read it. Language on the lines of behaviour including but not limited to {example} is fine. We are trying to raise the bar on expected standards of behaviour, so start with the obvious stuff and the language can be tightened up subsequently if found problematic.

A clear message that a high standard of behaviour is required.

Floor staff need a clear procedure of how to handle complaints and how to escalate more serious incidents.

A person with a complaint needs to know they can complain, can escalate the complaint if they feel that is necessary.


Edit: Coming back to the thread and re-reading this. This post is in no way a commentary on Umbran's post above mine. I made this post with out seeing Umbran's post.
It is, however, a good post.
 
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Let us stop talking in generalities, and look at an actual example of a convention anti-harassment policy. If you put your internet searching skills to use, you can find several examples. There's actually some basic boilerplate that's been developed for the purpose, used mostly verbatim across many smaller cons. For example:

"Foo-Con is dedicated to providing a harassment-free convention experience for everyone, regardless of gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, or religion, or any other factor. We do not tolerate harassment of convention attendees in any form. Convention attendees violating these rules may be sanctioned or expelled from the convention without a refund at the discretion of the convention organizers.

Harassment includes, but is not limited to, offensive verbal comments related to gender, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, disability, physical appearance, body size, race, age, or religion. It also includes display of sexual images in public spaces, deliberate intimidation, stalking, following, harassing photography or recording, sustained disruption of games or other events, inappropriate physical contact, unwelcome sexual attention, bathroom policing, and unwelcome simulated combat using realistic or non-realistic weapon props. Participants asked to stop any harassing behavior are expected to comply immediately.

If a participant engages in harassing behavior, the convention organizers may take any action they deem appropriate, including warning the offender or expulsion from the convention with no refund. If you are being harassed, notice that someone else is being harassed, or have any other concerns, please contact a member of the convention staff immediately

Convention Staff will be happy to help participants contact Hotel security or local law enforcement if desired, provide escorts, or otherwise assist those experiencing harassment to feel safe for the duration of the convention."


Who thinks this is too vague, such that attendees capable fo reading the policy will somehow not be aware of what is and isn't acceptable?

Note that some cons are starting to have attendees sign a document to certify that they've seen the policy, and accept it, so there is no excuse for not having read it.

One of my local cons uses a variation of this policy. Want me to go into what they did when I made a report of a harassment incident?

This is great!

My main request for expansion would be in having more of it addressing the potential victims:

- clarifying how confidential reports are (or are not),

- being absolutely clear on who among the convention organizers decides what action is appropriate (ideally it should be a group and NOT an individual),

- whether and how someone filing a report are notified of the con's response, as well as

- whether there are appeal processes or not (for both accusers and accused who feel their concerns were not adequately addressed).

- Lastly, there is the massive can of worms of pre-emptive banning for behavior outside of the con is possible and under what circumstances. That's something cons should have a clear policy on before it comes up, because it will eventually come up especially as the backlog of unreported issues are finally reported because they are somewhat more likely to be take seriously now.

Edit to add: Also, when it comes to actual presentation of this policy, I definitely think it should be tailored to the medium. So on the website and program book, there can be a full version of it. During registration there can be a "this is harassment, ok?" pledge version. On posters in hallways, exhibit halls, etc. those should be far more succinct and focused only on "These things are harassment, so don't do them and watch for people doing them to others" and "If you are harassed or are witness to harassment, talk to these people." That's it. Leave the subtly and details to things like the program book and website where you can even include a clear, step-by-step "You have been harassed, now what should you do?" guidance.
 
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Riley37

First Post
So we're still talking about eliminating harassment in the context of the RPG hobby space right?

Yeah, how do we do that *only* in the RPG hobby space, without affecting or observing it, in the rest of the world? What is the particular method which is unique to RPGers?

Maybe we should study harassment and counter-harassment methods in Greyhawk, then in Forgotten Realms, solve them there, then extend that solution to cons, and THEN to USA society and all of humanity.
 

Yeah, how do we do that *only* in the RPG hobby space, without affecting or observing it, in the rest of the world? What is the particular method which is unique to RPGers?

Maybe we should study harassment and counter-harassment methods in Greyhawk, then in Forgotten Realms, solve them there, then extend that solution to cons, and THEN to USA society and all of humanity.

To echo someone else earlier, what is your goal with this? Is it a snarky attack or just an attempt at some humor? Don’t know about others, but I’m confused.
 

UngainlyTitan

Legend
Supporter
Yeah, how do we do that *only* in the RPG hobby space, without affecting or observing it, in the rest of the world? What is the particular method which is unique to RPGers?

Maybe we should study harassment and counter-harassment methods in Greyhawk, then in Forgotten Realms, solve them there, then extend that solution to cons, and THEN to USA society and all of humanity.

We don't. Ultimately the standard of behaviour in public spaces in general has to improve if the issue of harassment and the general feeling of lack of safety is to be addressed. However, that is no reason no to demand better behaviour in the private spaces we do control.

If you want to move a mountain, you start by carrying away a single stone and all that.
 


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