Hi Maria, thank you. Personnally, and as an engaged feminist in real life, I dont believe one word of these allegations.
My support goes to Christophe, and like you wrote, these allegations I think are not backed up by evidence as far as I have been informed). Too many people within the francophone community are being accused - causing resentment - of too many things that are simply not true, for me to be able to believe in this. Kind regards, Natacha / Nattes à chat > Le 11 oct. 2017 à 19:54, María Sefidari <[email protected]> a écrit : > > Dear all, > > > We would like to specifically address the allegations related to harassment > in this thread’s original email. We take all allegations of harassment > seriously. Earlier this year, the Board of Trustees was informed that > allegations of harassment had been made against the Wikimedia Foundation > Board Chair dating back to his time as chair of Wikimédia France. We > immediately directed the Foundation to investigate. The Foundation employed > independent, external experts and conducted an investigation. Based on the > information presented, the investigation found no support for the > allegations. That conclusion was conveyed to the Wikimedia Foundation Board > as well as the chair of Wikimédia France. > > The Wikimedia Foundation remains committed to independent investigation if > presented with new information. Absent such information, we consider the > allegations to be without merit. > > > On behalf of the Board, > > > María Sefidari > > El 8 oct. 2017 5:20, "John Erling Blad" <[email protected]> escribió: > > When I first saw the posts I thought it would probably be more opinions to > them than the very clear blame-game that were going on. Having a partly > anonymous community and a chapter that only represents some of the users > are an invitation to fierce battles. > > Whatever going on at WMFR, I believe it is time for reevaluating the role > of WMF in this. I'm wondering if there should be a new board for WMF, > unless they get a new chair themselves asap. Reorganize, solve the > problems, and move on. > > No, I do not know any of the people involved. > > John Erling Blad > /jeblad > > On Fri, Oct 6, 2017 at 3:11 PM, Marie-Alice Mathis < > [email protected]> wrote: > >> Hello all, >> >> I haven’t had a real opportunity to introduce myself: I am Marie-Alice >> Mathis, 32, a now ex-member of the Board of Wikimédia France. >> >> The transition with the newly elected members of the Board is now complete >> and I gladly step down to get away from the violence, exhaustion and >> frustration of these past few months. >> >> I was a Board candidate because after completing my PhD I finally had more >> time to contribute to the projects and serve the community through the >> French chapter: after watching my husband Rémi Mathis do it for years I > had >> a pretty good idea of what it meant. I did not know our ED Nathalie Martin >> or our chair Émeric Vallespi before working with them, and now that I have >> I can vouch for their hard work and attachment to the movement’s values. >> >> Today, I have lost friends or people I thought were friends because I >> defended Nathalie and Émeric in good faith during the smear campaign based >> on the community’s assumption that they were the source and cause of all >> the chapter’s problems, real or perceived. Although I have worked with > them >> closely for a year, I have been repeatedly informed that I’ve been >> manipulated by Nathalie from the start and should not have blindly > believed >> everything Émeric was saying. I’ve been personally attacked on WMF sites, >> email lists, and social media for weeks, my every word scrutinised, >> questioned and mocked assuming I was either ignorant or lying. I’ve been >> told by so-called feminists who were endorsing a particularly sexist rant >> against me to “stop making inflammatory comments”. I’ve been called a >> conspiracy theorist because I questioned the role of our former chair >> Christophe Henner, now chair of the Board at the WMF, in the threats to >> withdraw our chapter agreement and the cutting of half our FDC funding. >> People close to Christophe who have resigned from the WMFR Board early in >> the crisis rather than take responsibility for their mistakes now call >> themselves victims and whistleblowers. The WMF, who is perfectly aware of >> the charges of sexual harassment filed by Nathalie against Christophe for >> facts dating back to when he was her boss at Wikimédia France, is >> pretending WMFR leadership has used the threat of legal action to >> intimidate chapter members and silence opposition. >> >> Some unfounded allegations have been made on this very list by prominent >> members of the community (and what is a newbie’s word worth in that case, >> right?): from extremely serious accusations of misuse of chapter funds for >> personal gain (that strangely enough never made it to the French justice >> system despite a so-called “rather convincing rationale”), to gratuitous >> ones that Nathalie was making the Board’s decisions for us and dictating >> our communication (I am old enough to write my own emails, thank you very >> much), to ever vague ones of “quite generous expenses reimbursement“. None >> of this has been supported by proof or tangible facts, but the goal of >> spreading distrust and dissent in the chapter and the wider community has >> clearly been reached. Even now that Nathalie has left her position and the >> Board has resigned, some are still defaming her in the French media in the >> hopes of winning the stupid argument of who were the bad guys in the >> crisis. >> >> I am also extremely disappointed that no one from this list asked us (the >> Board) what was happening when these allegations were made, with only a >> handful of people suggesting to wait before all the facts were known. >> Instead, you took for granted the very short and extremely biased English >> summaries of the Board’s communications (which were instantly circulated > on >> this list without our consent and in violation of our chapter’s bylaws), >> and joined in the chorus of outrage, condemnation and verbal abuse. >> >> But worse to me than all this, I am actually terrified at how easily the >> Wikimedia community can turn on a person, with no regard whatsoever for >> decency or legality, when it has made up its mind about who has no place >> there. I have personally experienced what it means to disagree with this >> angry mob: questioning the dominant opinion or calling out individuals’ >> toxic behaviour makes you in turn acceptable collateral damage and a “fair >> game” target for harassment. >> >> Speaking of this, the movement as a whole needs to address the issue of >> staff-volunteers relations exemplified by the rapid turnover of executive >> staff across chapters. Nathalie stayed at WMFR an almost record breaking 4 >> years, but at what cost? I’m being extremely serious in adding that this >> conversation needs to take place before something irreversible happens as > a >> result of harmful group behaviour within the community. >> >> Sincerely, >> Marie-Alice Mathis // AlienSpoon >> >> >> PS: for your information about my position regarding the WMF’s role in > this >> crisis and their recent unilaterally added conditions [ >> https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grant_expectations_for_ >> Wikimedia_France_-_2017-2018] >> for payment of our FDC-attributed grant, I attach my email to Katy Love >> from Sept 20. >> >> Katy, (Cc WMFr Board and Rémi) >> >> In the WMF "Grant expectations" document sent to the Board of WMFr, you >> mention as a condition for APG funds payment that I do not resign from my >> position on the Board until the governance review is complete, and that > any >> Board member planning to resign must report and justify it to WMF. >> >> You also mention that you retain the right to cease funding WMFr if you >> consider that legal threats are being used inappropriately to stifle civil >> and appropriate participation in the chapter. Moreover, you condition >> payment to being informed if the chapter leadership feels that legal > action >> is appropriate to take against current or former board members or staff. >> >> Let me be clear: these conditions are outrageous and unacceptable. >> >> First of all, my legitimacy as a Board member of WMFr does not come from >> any commitment to WMF but from being democratically elected by French >> chapter members. WMF has no say in who stays or not on the Board, and >> trying to intervene on such governance issues is, again, putting both >> organisations at risk of being legally recognised as co-employers. >> >> Second, as a (volunteer) Board member I have been subjected to harassment, >> sexist abuse, and unjustified allegations of misconduct by community >> members, that have impacted my health and mental well being to the point >> where I was no longer able to do my (paid) job in cancer patient care and >> my GP put me on medical leave. A large volume of this abuse took place on >> WMF property (fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipédia:Le_Bistro > <http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Le_Bistro> >> <http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Le_Bistro> >> <http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikip%C3%A9dia:Le_Bistro> and the >> WMF-hosted, >> publicly archived mailing lists wikimedia-l and wikimediafr). >> You personally and on behalf of WMF encouraged French community members to >> challenge chapter leadership citing governance issues, without a word >> mentioning the violence suffered by the Board and executive staff at the >> hands of some French members during this crisis. Worse, you presented the >> Board's email condemning the harassment as inaccurate and problematic, >> which made the community feel all the more legitimate in their harmful >> attacks. >> When I reported the abuse in person to WMF employees during the site visit >> you personally empathised with my distress at the time, and thanked me for >> being honest about how your email to the wikimediafr list had made our >> already precarious situation untenable. And then you did nothing. >> My husband Rémi, who witnessed first hand the effects of the harassment on >> my health, called on you to release the site visit report so the > misconduct >> allegations would stop. You didn't, until 3 days before our General >> Assembly (where the allegations were repeated), on the same day you asked >> that I stay on as a Board member. Even your choice of words in the "Grant >> expectations" document is telling: "egregious incivility" is not what we >> are talking about here. We are talking about unacceptable and illegal >> defamation and harassment with serious real life consequences. >> Rémi also called on the wikimedia-l list to stop the unfounded > allegations, >> and was attacked in turn because of "his conflict of interest as the >> husband of a Board member". He also reported the abuse to the WMF >> governance committee, to the Suport and Safety team and mentioned it to >> Christophe Henner and Katherine Maher on Twitter, to no avail. To this day >> we haven't received any support or acknowledgement whatsoever. All the >> while the sexist abuse continues, and French editor MrButler was moderated >> on the wikimediafr maling list for his continued personal attacks against >> me. This is exactly the kind of behaviour the Board's email to the members >> was calling out, yet you continue to deliberately ignore it and refuse to >> do anything about it. >> >> Finally, your asking to be informed of any legal action against chapter >> members or staff is yet another example of the WMF taking sides while >> posing as a neutral arbitrator. Calling someone out on their toxic >> behaviour or actually filing a complaint are no legal threats or >> intimidation, but by claiming they are you are trying to silence victims > by >> denying them their basic rights to legal protection. At least two >> complaints have been filed against community members and more may be >> coming, including on my behalf. You will not be informed because it is not >> for WMF to decide whether they are justified or frivolous. >> >> For all these reasons I am deeply shocked and hurt by your payment >> conditions and will not abide by the terms of your grant expectations. > With >> most of WMFr funding hanging in the balance your unilaterally revised >> conditions amount to blackmail but I will not stay in harm's way at the >> request of the organisation who has failed me in every aspect when I came >> in good faith to work for the community. I will resign when I see fit to >> protect my health, and continue to speak honestly and publicly about your >> actions and empty words of safety and inclusivity. >> >> Sincerely, >> Marie-Alice Mathis, vice chair of WMFr >> _______________________________________________ >> Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ >> wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ >> wiki/Wikimedia-l >> New messages to: [email protected] >> Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, >> <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/ > wiki/Wikimedia-l > New messages to: [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> > _______________________________________________ > Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and > https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l > New messages to: [email protected] > Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, > <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe> _______________________________________________ Wikimedia-l mailing list, guidelines at: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Mailing_lists/Guidelines and https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia-l New messages to: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://lists.wikimedia.org/mailman/listinfo/wikimedia-l, <mailto:[email protected]?subject=unsubscribe>
