There Is No Accusation
The Defendants have alleged a woman I interacted with in Ohio has accused me of something. She has not. This was an incident I wrote about, years ago, to illustrate my learning experiences in improving my behavior.
The Defense in my case admits they have never spoken to O and have no information about this incident other than what I myself have written. Stephanie Zvan described it on behalf of the Defendants only as "An incident that Dr. Carrier blogged about which took place at a location unknown to" them (Defendants' Motion to Dismiss for Lack of Jurisdiction 12-01-16, Exhibit 6, Declaration of Stephanie Zvan, Par. 17(c)).
I wrote about this years ago (in "How to Do Wrong Right," 15 June 2015). During a conversation at a pub I told a woman (here identified as O), who had previously attended a talk I had given just prior, that I would like to ask her out. She seemed taken aback, and I apologized if I overstepped. She continued talking with me for hours and later told me she had merely been surprised. But I concluded afterward that that might have been an overstep. The previous speaking engagement was a CFI Campus event. The students met me at the pub after on their own. And that created an ambiguous circumstance (to what extent is that still under event policy?). Although later I learned it was not even contrary to any policy, at the time I thought it was, and should have been over-cautious in heeding it. But the fact is, the applicable policy did not prohibit asking such a question as long as the answer was respected (since you can't know what is an "unwelcome" advance until you ask). I was polite in asking for consent. I respected the answer. I apologized for any discomfort caused. There were many witnesses to this. And no complaint arose.
Note that in that same article I wrote that this Ohio incident was one of "by far my three worst 'hit ons' in my life," and that the other "two involved longtime friends in complicated situations not at any event or conference, and thus belong more in the realm of private relations than event and conference policy." Those other two, incidentally, are the very actions for which I'm now being falsely accused of violating consent or policy: Heina Dadabhoy and Lauren Lane. With neither of whom did I violate any consent. I asked for consent, and fully respected their answer. And neither occurred at any conference or event. They were private actions in personal life between longtime friends.
You may start to notice a pattern here: in all six cases, I've neither done nor even been accused of anything close to as bad as, for example, even Aziz Ansari. As in this case, no woman has accused me of pushing past any stated boundary; and the evidence proves I haven't. So this should not be imagined as grounds to prohibit me from speaking at conferences and events. I should think politely asking for consent, respecting the answer, and apologizing for any overstep, should be every event's behavioral goal.