Academy Board approves 'Standards Of Conduct' for its members

The Board of Governors of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences has approved the Standards of Conduct for its members after the sexual harassment scandal involving Harvey Weinstein came into light.
The Academy had earlier formed a task force headed by Academy Officer David Rubin to draw out a new code of conduct for its members.
The new standards have been approved by the academy's 54 -member board of governors in a meeting.
Academy CEO Dawn Hudson, in a statement obtained by Variety, said, "Over the course of weeks, the task force consulted with professors of ethics, business, philosophy, and law from Georgetown, Harvard, Notre Dame, and Stanford, as well as experts in human resources and sexual harassment.

"Much remains to be done. The task force will finalise procedures for handling allegations of misconduct, assuring that we can address them fairly and expeditiously," said Hudson in the letter.
After investigations by The New York Times and The New Yorker that revealed sexual harassment and rape allegations against Weinstein, the Academy's 54-member board of governors had ousted him with immediate effect at an emergency session.

Hudson's letter, which was sent to Academy's roughly 8,500 members, also had a link to the standards.
"There is no place in the Academy for people who abuse their status, power or influence in a manner that violates recognised standards of decency," it said.

"The Academy is categorically opposed to any form of abuse, harassment or discrimination on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, disability, age, religion, or nationality," it added.