Ongoing Harassment
If you are already experiencing threats or harassment, take steps to protect yourself by documenting the harassment.
Take screenshots of all threatening messages or posts, including a timestamp and URL, and log other threatening communications such as phone calls. Keeping these records will preserve evidence of the harassment for use in any civil or criminal proceedings or school disciplinary action.
If you are experiencing harassment over social media, use the platform’s mechanism for reporting harassment or hate speech. You may also consider blocking or muting harassers on social media platforms.
Harassers may also attempt to dox you, i.e. reveal private information about you, including your home address or phone number, without your consent. If that happens, use the website or social media platform’s procedures to remove the information as quickly as possible.
You may want to change your passwords in case any of your personal accounts were compromised. The PEN America Online Harassment Field Manual provides additional guidance on how to protect yourself online.
In addition to these personal steps, which you can take immediately, you should reach out to your union. Your local affiliate may be able to help you engage with your employer and connect you with information and resources specific to your state or locality. Your local can help you check your
(CBA) and board policies for relevant protections. Work with your local to demand that your employer provide the required protections and to file a grievance if the employer fails to comply with the CBA.
You should also reach out to administrators or school officials. Your employer has an affirmative obligation under federal law to investigate and address certain kinds of harassment, even from third parties—but only if the employer knows about the harassment. Immediately reporting any issues ensures that the school or institution is responsible for taking steps to prevent further harassment.
Your collective bargaining agreement, employer policies, and state law may provide additional protection.
If the employer refuses to provide these protections after your request, file a grievance using procedures in the CBA.
School board or employer policies may also cover bullying and harassment, as well as workplace safety and abuse of school/campus IT resources.
Such policies can be an important tool to protect educators—for example, a school district in Maine recently filed a lawsuit against a member of the community who was harassing its teachers, arguing that the district had a duty under state law and school board policy to protect its educators from harassment.
