Program Description    

Making credibility determinations is fraught with challenges, including the investigator’s own biases, witnesses’ motivations to fabricate testimony, and the inherent unreliability of memories. One of the most challenging scenarios investigators often face is when an incident involves only two witnesses, with no other corroborating or discrediting testimony available (traditionally referred to as a “he said/she said” situation). In this session, we will delve into evidence-based factors to consider for making more objective and reliable credibility determinations, before collaboratively analyzing a fictitious case study.

Learning Objectives

• Define credibility is and how it differs from reliability
• Learn about the unreliability of our instinctual credibility determinations
• Review evidence-based factors for making more reliable credibility assessments
• Apply these credibility factors to a fictitious scenario involving just two witnesses

Our Presenter

Mandy Levine conducts investigations into your most challenging employment and higher education situations, such as allegations of harassment, discrimination, retaliation, and serious employee misconduct. Mandy is licensed as a Professional Investigator in Maine and as an attorney in Massachusetts and Vermont. Mandy also facilitates highly-interactive workshops that provide staff guidance and practical skills to identify and challenge both personal and organizational biases and embrace the myriad benefits of working collaboratively with individuals across a range of differences.  

Mandy is a graduate of Middlebury College and Boston College Law School.  Before starting her consulting business in 2020, Mandy spent several years practicing employment law in Boston and Burlington, Vermont.  Her past employment also includes serving as the Assistant Director of Civil Rights at the New England regional office of the Anti-Defamation League in Boston and spearheading the creation of an inclusive work environment for the staff of the City of Portland, Maine.

Thank you to our sponsor