THE NYSA Ethics Committee IS NOT A LEGAL ENTITY
We are not a law enforcement entity or affiliated with local or other government agencies.
We have internally set up a set of rules and guidelines that we will hold ourselves accountable to when it comes to what we will consider as part of an ethics complaint against a Board Member, Commissioner, Coach, fellow parent, or other individual. We feel it is important to spell these out so that we can present a fair, upfront, and unbiased approach and how seriously we take this process.
First and foremost, the online form is the FIRST step in this process. ANY email that is sent to the ethics committee prior to the form being sent and a follow up email being requested by the committee full of attachments, links, or screenshots will be DELETED UNOPENED. We are not a clearing house or dumping ground. We will go about our processes in a fair and methodical manner.
In having said this, the following lists the type of materials, that if requested, we would be willing to accept.
If we request, or you are willing to provide:
Emails: Only accepted in PDF form. You must be either the original sender or one of the original recipients. (can't be something someone forwarded to you and then you forward to us and so on). Further more, of that original email, it must be either printed and scanned or "printed to PDF" such that the "To: From: Date: & Subject" are all visible as part of that PDF. If there is question as to authenticity, while the committee will never take possession of an email account, you may be asked to show on your device the email as it exists in digital form from the original sender.
--why--
We do not want to enter a situation skeptical of fellow NYSA members, but by the nature of these complaints, one party is naturally antagonistic of the other and emotions can sometimes get the best of us. So prior to members of this committee putting our signature on a report of fact, we need to be able to ensure accuracy, so these processes are put in place in all cases recognizing they will often times not be needed. But an email 'simply forwarded' is HIGHLY susceptible to edits to any number of individuals who may have had it prior, so while not perfect, restricting email submissions to original recipients and in PDF forms means that to have it altered would have occurred 'by accident.'
Audio Recording: UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES will this committee accept an audio-only recording. Given that an audio-only recording cannot definitely be confirmed to have had both parties consent when being made, this committee will not accept audio recording (including phone) recordings for any reason.
This includes video's where the video is taken in such a way that the camera is pointed away from the other party such that they would have not have had a reasonable way of knowing that they were being recorded (like from within a purse, in a pocket, camera held but pointed down, etc.)
Video: Video's taken of a game can be considered if taken in a public place when it is obvious that all parties involved would have understood they were being recorded. This committee however is not here to adjudicate an umpires call on the field. This committee however will not consider any video that has been altered (to include enhancements). Only videos in their original recording state will be considered.
Pictures: Pictures in your possession and unedited. If a picture is edited after you receive it, the committee can only consider the unedited version.
The committee is able to receive any material that is publicly available on the internet.
Text Messages/Message apps: The committee is able to receive text messages as screen shots HOWEVER, there are caveats:
1: The screen shots CANNOT be edited in anyway (removable of people in the message trend, blurring of words, etc). additionally, screen shots of the messages just prior and just after the messages in questions must be provided in order to provide context of the messages in question. Also: the submitted MUST be willing to provide the contact information of the other individual in the message trend.
why?
many of these message trend offer the ability to 'delete' messages on your side of the phone/computer or edit them after the fact. In order to give everyone the same chance at fairness, ANYONE wanting to submit screenshots of messages, regardless of the platform MUST be willing to provide the other parties contact information from that same message trend and understand that this committee MAY reach out to them to confirm that the messages they show on their end are the same as the screen shots submitted.
Anything attributed to another individual: (handouts, letter, flyers, etc) if there is a physical element submitted or scanned and submitted that is attributed to another individual, this committee reserves the right to authenticate this material before making use of it.
Once submitted to this committee, all materials will be stored on the NYSA controlled drives, but materials may or may not be retained as seen as being useful and may be deleted when deemed immaterial to a given inquiry.