An Administrator's Guide to California Private School Law

Chapter 12 - Investigations

ii. Establish A Foundation To establish a foundation, the investigator must gather basic information regarding the underlying events and conversations so that he or she can understand the context and sequence of events that allegedly occurred. If a witness is reporting the content of a conversation to the investigator, the investigator should first determine the identity of each speaker, the date, time and place of the conversation, and whether anyone else was present. Again, using the example of a workplace harassment investigation: EXAMPLES Example 1 Witness: “We discussed where to go for dinner.” Investigator: “Let me ask you about some preliminaries to be sure I understand the context and content of the conversation.

- Where did this conversation take place? - When did this conversation take place? - Who was present? - Who initiated the conversation? - What did he say? - Did you say or do anything in response - After you said (or did) that, did he say or do anything in response?”

Example 2 Witness:

“He brushed up against my butt.” Investigator: “I would like to know a little more about what happened before he brushed up against you. - What were you and he doing when he brushed up against you? - When you say he brushed up against you, can you describe how you were both physically positioned (e.g., standing, seated, facing each other, side-by-side) - How did he brush up against you? - Was he trying to do something when he brushed up against you (e.g., move around you) - Was there anything in the way of his being able to move around you? - Was anyone else present when this occurred ? - Did you say or do anything when he brushed up against you? - Did he say or do anything in response?”

Example 3 Witness:

“She told me her husband would be out of town over the weekend.” Investigator: “Just so I understand the context of the statement, I would like to ask a few preliminary questions.

An Administrator’s Guide to California Private School Law ©2019 Liebert Cassidy Whitmore 464