𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐕𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬

𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐕𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐕𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐫𝐬

 

We are pleased to announce that on Tuesday, July 7, 2020, the Local Complaints Committee (LCC) at the Office of the Collector North Goa, Government of Goa completely dismissed the charge of sexual harassment against Video Volunteers Co-Founder Stalin K. This finding is in total alignment with the results of a separate, exhaustive independent investigation by the Video Volunteers Board of Directors, and together both findings completely vindicate Stalin K, and dispel all allegations and accusations against him.

 

The Board’s in-depth, independent, external investigation was conducted between November 2018 and June 2019 in accordance with best governance process. The Board, after asking Stalin to step aside while a thorough investigation was conducted, reached out through external investigators to a broad array of people both within the organization, and outside of it who posted on social media. The findings from this external and independent investigation and our decision were released in a memo to the VV staff, the community correspondents and several other stakeholders in July of 2019.

 

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐢𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐠𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝 𝐧𝐨 𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐬𝐞𝐱𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐫 𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐬𝐬𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, 𝐜𝐨𝐞𝐫𝐜𝐢𝐨𝐧, 𝐨𝐫 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐢𝐝𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐚𝐫𝐭, and based upon that finding the Board reinstated Stalin K to resume work as of July 2019, which he did.

 

The Board held off making the findings of the independent investigation public out of respect to the single complainant and the LCC’s due process under the POSH Act in India.

Now, in July of 2020, the LCC has rendered the same judgement as the Board. There are no pending matters against Stalin in any forums – statutory or otherwise. 𝐇𝐞 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐟𝐮𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐯𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐛𝐲 𝐭𝐡𝐞

 

𝐁𝐨𝐚𝐫𝐝 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐋𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐞.

The Board carried out its extensive, independent investigation as part of its commitment, and governance responsibility, to assure a safe and respectful work environment for all Video Volunteers employees. The organization has been working diligently with the Board to strengthen all governance policies and procedures. In the year since Stalin’s return, the organization has been running very smoothly -- without incident or complaint.

 

We would like to thank Co-Founder Jessica Mayberry for her steadfast leadership of Video Volunteers and the staff and Community Correspondents of VV for steering the organization so ably through these challenging times.

 

We thank Stalin K for his endless resilience, cooperation, patience, courage and dedication to due process. We stand firm in our conviction that justice has been served and he and Video Volunteers can now continue to make a positive and impressive impact on India, and the world