- Upon receipt of a complaint against a Minister, whether or not the subject of the complaint is also a Kundalini Yoga teacher, EPS will promptly notify SDI in writing, through its Secretary General, Chancellor, and Secretary of Religion. If SDI receives the initial complaint, the SDI Secretary General, Chancellor, or Secretary of Religion will promptly notify EPS in writing.
- In the case where the subject of a complaint is a Minister and not a Kundalini Yoga teacher, the Secretary General, Chancellor, the Secretary of Religion, and the Director of EPS will have an initial meeting to determine whether EPS will initiate its formal Complaint Procedure, or if the Complaint can be resolved solely by SDI.
- In the case where the subject of the complaint is both a Minister and a Kundalini Yoga Teacher, EPS will follow its regular process in determining whether or not to initiate the formal Complaint Procedure, subject to the following paragraph.
- In the event EPS initiates a formal Complaint Procedure involving an SDI Minister, the EPS Global Ethics Commission (GEC) Enquiry Planning Committee will include in its membership the SDI representative to the GEC who has been authorized to communicate with the Secretary General, Chancellor, and Secretary of Religion about the case, and to speak for SDI in connection with the case.
- The Secretary General, Chancellor, and the Secretary of Religion will sign such confidentiality agreements as EPS reasonably requests.
- The SDI representative to the GEC will participate in the GEC’s vote(s) regarding its Decision on the final outcome of the complaint.
- Upon completion of its investigation and receipt of the GEC Decision, EPS will provide the Secretary General, Chancellor, and the Secretary of Religion with an executive summary outlining the accusation(s), how substantiated, and the GEC’s Decision.
- SDI will review the EPS executive summary and decide what action should be taken. If SDI’s decision does not follow the GEC’s Decision, SDI will provide EPS with a written rationale for its decision.
- If EPS does not agree with SDI’s decision, representatives of SDI and EPS will meet to seek an agreed upon resolution. If no agreement is reached, SDI’s decision will be final, except in cases where paragraph 10 applies.
- If EPS and SDI cannot agree on a decision and EPS determines that (a) SDI’s decision clearly does not adequately address egregious and ongoing conduct that presents a continuing risk of harm to others, or (b) SDI’s decision is clearly inconsistent with the treatment of similarly situated respondents, the decision will be made by an Appeals Panel, as described below.
- The Appeals Panel will consist of two people designated by SDI and three people designated by EPS who were not previously involved in the investigation.
- Once a final decision is reached, the Secretary of Religion and the Chancellor will communicate the decision in writing to the respondent if the only status that is at issue in the Complaint is Minister status and no monitoring or other follow up by EPS is involved. If additional statuses are involved or if EPS will be involved in monitoring or other follow up with the Minister, EPS will coordinate a joint communication in writing that includes all the appropriate entities as signatories.
- The respondent may appeal the decision by submitting an appeal to EPS within 30 days of receiving the decision. EPS will notify SDI of any appeals filed. Appeals will be decided by the Appeals Panel described in paragraph 11.
In order to maintain the integrity of the Complaint Procedure, EPS does not entertain Counter Complaints against the Complainant, EPS, or any of the SSSC Legacy Organizations.
To File a Complaint, please click HERE.
If you have any questions about the Complaint Procedure or Appeals Process, kindly contact [email protected].