Figure 1 shows the breakdown, by category, of 113 Whistleblower reports relevant to UC Berkeley that were submitted between July 1, 2022 - June 30, 2023. The most common primary reasons for reports to the Whistleblower Hotline were workplace misconduct (28 reports), child/elder abuse (17 reports), and health/safety/violence (13 reports). Fraud/theft/embezzlement followed with 12 reports (Figure 1).
Figure 1: Primary reasons for Whistleblower Hotline reports (7/1/2022 - 6/30/2023)
Figure 1 reflects allegations conveyed, rather than actual reports filed. One report made to the Whistleblower reporting portal may contain more than one type of allegation; those are separately counted in Figure 1. Conversely, the same alleged incident is sometimes reported to the Whistleblower Hotline by multiple individuals. If the information reported is sufficient, staff reviewing the reports will combine these duplicate reports into one report of the incident to avoid inaccuracies. Figure 1 shows the outcome of that consolidation.
Figure 1 excludes a number of actual or potential Whistleblower reports, as follows:
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The Whistleblower reporting portal receives a number of faux or spam reports. Such reports are not in any way related to the UC and/or are uncredible, unfounded, or otherwise false; accordingly, they are excluded from Figure 1. The number of such reports was especially high (over 200) in 2022-23.
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Reports to the Whistleblower reporting portal that allege sexual misconduct or protected category discrimination/harassment, which are routed to the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination (OPHD), are covered later in this report, so are also excluded from Figure 1.
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While the category of “Workplace Misconduct” in Figure 1 includes abusive conduct (and bullying) in the workplace, many reports of Abusive Conduct are, since early 2023, now being made through a new portal that is not connected to Whistleblower and hence not reflected statistically in Figure 1. The new UC Abusive Conduct in the Workplace policy was issued in December of 2022. In early 2023, UC Berkeley’s Employee and Labor Relations (ELR) unit took responsibility for responding to reports of abusive conduct under this policy and created an additional reporting pathway. Reports of Abusive Conduct made directly to ELR are not included in this Civil Rights report.
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Whistleblower is one “tier” of Ethicspoint; there are two additional entry points to report specific kinds of misconduct via the Ethicspoint platform. Statistics about these kinds of reports are generally not included in this report with the exception of reports that were subsequently referred to Whistleblower or OPHD. Hate/bias incidents and athletics misconduct reports made through this “tier” will likely be in scope for future reports.
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The UC systemwide intolerance report form takes reports of hate or bias incidents and routes them to the appropriate campus offices for response. At UC Berkeley, the Office for the Prevention of Harassment and Discrimination handles the intake of such reports.
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In 2022, Cal Athletics created its own website to encourage reporting of athletics-related misconduct, such as suspected misconduct by the Cal Athletics staff and/or violations of University and Department of Athletics policies, NCAA bylaws, and federal and state law. Reports of athletic misconduct are reviewed by an administrator in Cal Athletics in addition to the campus team which triages all Whistleblower reports. Athletics issues can also be reported to Whistleblower.