The individual against whom an ethics complaint is made must be a current member in the Society
The complaint must state the matter complained of in detail, and should be accompanied by all materials that support the complaint
ASID determines if there is an ethics violation, and can only take action to suspend, terminate or uphold the membership of the accused. ASID is not a civil court and has no legal recourse in situations of where complainants are in need of financial recourse
Following receipt confirmation the initial complaint, it may take up to fourteen business days for the ethics committee to notify the complainant about whether we are able to proceed with the full ethics process
The following are ASID’s procedures regarding a complaint filed against a member:
The individual against whom an ethics complaint is made must be a current member in the Society (the "member"). The complaint must be in writing, signed by the complaining party, shall state the matter complained of in detail, and accompanied by all materials the complaining party (the "complainant") wishes to bring to the attention of the Society (collectively referred to as "complaining materials").
The complaining materials must be sent to Society headquarters within two years of the occurrence of the conduct which is the subject matter of the complaining materials.
The complaining materials are forwarded to a member of the Society’s leadership team at ethics@asid.org to review and determine if the conduct complained of involves a possible violation of the Society's Code of Ethics, or might otherwise constitute conduct detrimental to the Society or the profession.
If it is determined that complaining materials do not involve a possible violation, the complainant is informed and the matter is closed. If it is determined the complaining materials may involve a possible violation, the complaining materials are sent by the Society to the member with a request for a written response from the member to the complaining materials within 21 days. The response shall be in writing, signed by the member, and shall be accompanied by all materials the member wishes to bring to the attention of the Society in response to complaining materials. (Electronic submissions are preferred. Send to ethics@asid.org.)
The complaining and responding materials are then reviewed by the Society's complaints committee to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to warrant a disciplinary proceeding. In making their determination, the complaints committee may request additional information from either the complainant or the member. A copy of any such additional information provided by a party will, if the matter proceeds to a disciplinary hearing, be provided by the Society to the other party prior to the date of the hearing.
If the ethics committee concludes that a disciplinary hearing is not warranted, both parties are informed of such determination and the matter is closed.
If the ethics committee determines that a disciplinary hearing is warranted, then the Society shall notify the parties that a disciplinary hearing will take place. The notice of disciplinary hearing shall specify the date, time and method of the hearing.
Either party may submit such other written materials they wish to bring to the attention of the disciplinary committee, provided such additional materials are received at Society's headquarters by no later than 14 days preceding the hearing date.
The complainant and the member may participate in the disciplinary hearing with legal counsel and may produce such witnesses as they determine.
No stenographic transcript of such hearing shall be made.
The decision shall be issued to both parties as follows: phone the complainant and the accused and advise them of the decision. Additionally, the accused shall receive a PDF letter of the decision.