Definitions of Mistreatment

Mistreatment refers to the intentional and unintentional behavior that shows disrespect for the dignity of others and unreasonably interferes with learner process (American Association of Medical Colleges 2011).

Mistreatment may be verbal, emotional or physical in nature. Examples of mistreatment include but are not limited to:
  • harassment and discrimination
  • use of offensive names, insults or slurs
  • public embarrassment or humiliation
  • threats or acts of physical harm
  • obligation to perform personal services
  • willful neglect of learner support
  • omission of learner from academic or professional communication
  • disregard for the physical or emotional safety of the learner
  • exclusion from training that is unreasonable given learner’s performance or merit
  • denial of fair assessment or grading
  • gender-based or sexual violence as defined by Western Policy
  • retaliation or other prohibited conduct.

Other related Definitions

Discrimination and Harassment are defined in the Non-Discrimination/Harassment Policy (Western).

Faculty refers to any School educator or leader appointed by Western University, The University of Windsor and affiliates.

Learner is defined as a person in Undergraduate Medical Education, Post Graduate Medical Education or Doctor of Dental Surgery studies at the Schulich School of Medicine & Dentistry.

Retaliation is the act of doing something harmful in response to a protected act i.e. filing a complaint. Examples of retaliation may include an unexplained change in job duties, bullying, a sudden negative unjustified performance assessment denial of a promotion opportunity or exclusion from workplace social activities.

Micro-aggressions denote “a comment or action that subtly and often unconsciously or unintentionally expresses a prejudiced attitude toward a member of a marginalized group” identified by gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation or socioeconomic class.

Staff is defined as an administrative or support person employed by Western University, the University of Windsor and their affiliates that are not faculty.

Program defines the Undergraduate Medical Education, Post Graduate Medical Education or Doctor of Dental Surgery Programs of the School.

Event defines any adverse education or care related occurrence or outcome for a learner that fits with discrimination, harassment, mistreatment, retaliation.