Figure 29 shows the breakdown, by category, of 135 Whistleblower reports relevant to UC Berkeley that were submitted in 2023-24. The most common primary reasons for reports to the Whistleblower Hotline were workplace misconduct (31 reports) and child/elder abuse (18 reports).
Figure 29 (above) shows the allegations as they were categorized by the person who submitted the report. A single report made to the Whistleblower Hotline may contain more than one type of allegation; those allegations are counted in each relevant category in Figure 29. 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. Figure 29 reflects the outcome of that consolidation.
Figure 29 excludes a number of submissions to the Whistleblower Hotline, as follows:
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The Whistleblower Hotline receives a number of faux or spam reports. Such reports, being unrelated to the University, uncredible, unfounded, and/or otherwise false, are excluded from Figure 1.
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Reports to the Whistleblower Hotline that allege sexual misconduct or protected category discrimination/harassment are routed to OPHD and included in the OPHD statistics provided elsewhere in this report. These reports are excluded from Figure 1.
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While the category of “Workplace Misconduct” in Figure 1 is broad enough to include abusive conduct (and bullying) in the workplace, many reports of abusive conduct are, since the advent of the UC Abusive Conduct in the Workplace policy in 2023, being made through a new Abusive Conduct reporting portal that is not connected to Whistleblower. The portal is maintained by the Employee and Labor Relations (ELR) unit within People& Culture, which oversees the Abusive Conduct policy. 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. The UC systemwide intolerance report form takes reports of hate or bias incidents and routes them to the appropriate campus offices for response. The Cal Athletics website, created in 2022, takes reports of athletics-related employee misconduct, including 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.
Statistics about reports made via these tiers are not included in this report, unless subsequently referred to Whistleblower or OPHD. Hate/bias incidents and athletics misconduct reports made through these “tiers” may eventually be included in future Civil Rights reports.