Hi WCA Community,

Below you can find a summary of some of the notable cases the WCA Integrity Committee has worked on, as well as some general WIC updates from the past three months.
In the last quarter, the WCA Integrity Committee opened 12 cases and closed 16. This resulted in 5 bans and 4 warnings, while 7 cases ended with no action. Below, you can find summaries of some notable cases:

• The WCA Integrity Committee was made aware of serious concerns regarding a competitor, which also involved legal action being pursued. Although these incidents happened outside the sphere of the WCA and proceedings are still ongoing, the WCA Integrity Committee and WCA Board determined that precautionary action was warranted. With the prior approval of the WCA Board, the WIC issued a suspension from competing, attending official competitions and posting on the forum. The WCA Integrity Committee will monitor the legal proceedings and take the necessary actions once they are concluded.
• * With this in mind, the WIC would like to remind all community members that if you notice behavior that is inappropriate or violates our policies, please report such behavior to your local WCA delegates, as well as the WIC at integrity@worldcubeassociation.org. Our mission is to be able to serve as the confidant for disciplinary issues for the community, and we will always take these matters seriously. 
• The WCA Integrity Committee was informed of a competitor who had been caught stealing puzzles from other competitors and engaging in disruptive behavior. In addition, the competitor had previously been involved in multiple minor incidents of a similar nature. The competitor was issued a ban from competing and attending official competitions.
• The WCA Integrity Committee was made aware of a competitor who was engaging in inappropriate behavior at a WCA competition. This behavior continued at other competitions after the competitor was warned by the WIC. The competitor in question was issued a ban from participating and attending WCA competitions. 
• The WCT noted to the WIC that a competitor had made multiple posts on the WCA Forum that violated the WCA Code of Conduct, which were flagged and removed from public view. The competitor was issued a warning for these posts. The WIC would like to remind the WCA Community that all officially managed platforms, including the WCA Forum, are under the purview of the WCA’s Code of Conduct and to make sure to conduct themselves in these spaces accordingly. 
• The majority of our cases this quarter involved the WCA Integrity Committee handling a number of incidents in which some competitors cheated in various ways, including:
• * Stopping the timer with their wrists before finishing the solve
• * Peeking under their blindfolds during blindfolded events
• * Applying moves during inspection 
• Some competitors were banned from competing for these respective incidents, and the concerned attempts were disqualified.

General WIC updates:

• Since its creation, the WCA Integrity Committee has been working to create and update a variety of documents aimed at supporting the WCA Volunteers in safety matters. In light of the first incident described in this digest, the WIC Development Team will step up its efforts to develop training resources for ensuring the safety of WCA Volunteers, competitors and spectators at WCA competitions. The WIC recently received support to develop such resources, and we are extremely excited and eager to develop these with potential partners over the coming quarters. 
• The WIC anticipates opening a new call for applicants soon to fill positions across all subteams. We should have more information to share closer to the end of the month. We highly encourage any interested community members to apply when the call for applicants opens!
• Swami Srinivasan (2015SRIN02) was recently appointed as Senior Member of the WCA Integrity Committee. He was also appointed as Leader of the Ethics sub-team. We congratulate him and wish him the best of luck in his new roles.
• Cade Beck (2018BECK05) was recently appointed as Senior Member of the WCA Integrity Committee. We congratulate him and wish him the best of luck in their new role.
• Glenn Koster (2022JRGL01) and Bertie Longden (2014LONG06) recently stepped down from their positions as WIC members. Thank you so much for your work Glenn and Bertie!

Do you have questions for the WCA Integrity Committee? Feel free to send us an email. Our inboxes are always open!