Sex Out Loud, a student organization that focuses on promoting healthy sexuality, met with a student government committee Monday in order to assess potential repercussions for wage policy violations.
Sex Out Loud was found to have unintentionally violated Associated Students of Madison bylaws and General Student Services Fund Rules under the 20-hour work day policy in early October.
“We have a wage policy here,” said Student Services Finance Committee Chair Colin Barushok. “What happened was students worked ... and ultimately a leadership officer in Sex Out Loud signed off on [too many] hours, more than 20, four times.”
A fourth wage violation was reported as a general policy violation Oct. 7.
“We’re hoping that business continues as usual, but they do have some resolutions on the table that would really, severely damage our organization,” said Sex Out Loud representative Meredith Head. “Sex Out Loud is an essential part of this campus, and without us students would, I think, experience increased rates of sexual assault, increased STI rates, increased unplanned pregnancy and, overall, decreases in sexual health.”
Sex Out Loud cited many defenses for the violations, most importantly highlighting that because position interest for their budget coordinator is low, it has been hard to both find someone to replace their last coordinator and to have consistency in their budget process.
The finance committee discussed several resolutions, varying in penalties such as a budget freeze and removing the former Sex Out Loud member who signed off on hours from the ASM payroll permanently.
SSFC ultimately adopted a resolution that states Sex Out Loud must provide a written plan by the chair within five business days of notification, outlining steps that will be taken to prevent future general policy violations.
Additionally, Sex Out Loud will meet with Barushok monthly in order to ensure that interim members involved in budget coordinating are handling the budget correctly.
UPDATE Oct. 18 4:25 p.m.: This article has been updated to reflect the fact that Sex Out Loud was found to have unintentionally violated ASM bylaws. A previous version of this article stated the violation was intentional.
