Sexual Harassment Sexual Harassment Its fairly straightforward sexual

Sexual Harassment

Sexual Harassment It’s fairly straightforward: *sexual harassment can cause emotional damage *ruin personal lives *end careers. *It can also cost money; lots of money. . *And one more thing – sexual harassment is illegal.

Sexual Harassment *The best tools to help conquer and eliminate sexual harassment in the workplace *Prevention *Education *Intervention

Sexual Harassment *School districts are not immune: *It occurs in school districts all across the state. *It is committed by: a. Teachers b. Principals c. Administrators d. Supervisors e. Co-workers f. Parents g. Even students

Harassment in Broad Terms Harassment does not violate federal law unless it involves discriminatory treatment on the basis of: *race *color *sex *religion *national origin *age of 40 or older *disability

Sexual Harassment Defined *The victim as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. *The victim does not have to be of the opposite sex as the harasser. *The harasser can be the victim’s supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee (parent, vendor, etc. )

Sexual Harassment Defined *The victim does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct. * Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without any financial loss to the victim or discharge of the victim. *The harasser’s conduct must be unwelcome

Sexual Harassment Defined There are basically two different types of sexual harassment claims: *Quid Pro Quo *Hostile work environment.

Quid Pro Quo Otherwise known as “‘this for that”. This type of harassment occurs when a supervisor or any individual in an authority position requests sex, or a sexual relationship, in exchange for not firing or otherwise punishing the employee, or in exchange for favors, such as promotions or raises.

Hostile Work Environment *The most common type of sexual harassment found in school districts. *The behavior must be so pervasive as to create an intimidating and offensive work environment.

Hostile Work Environment *Occurs through the presence of: a. demeaning or unwelcome visual b. verbal behavior, c. sexual photographs, jokes, d. threats.

Evaluating Hostile Work Environment *The frequency of the alleged inappropriate behavior (one comment would not suffice) *The severity of the behavior *The conduct of the victim *The context of the alleged harassment *Whether other individuals if put in the place of the victim would have also found the environment to be hostile

What is “Unwelcome? ” *Generally speaking, conduct is unwelcome: *In that the employee does not solicit or incite it. *The sense that the employee regards the conduct as undesirable or offensive. *When confronted with conflicting evidence as to whether the conduct was welcome, the record as a whole and the totality of the circumstances should be evaluated.

*The conduct is quite severe, a single incident or isolated incidents of offensive sexual conduct or remarks generally do not create an abusive environment. A hostile environment claim generally requires a showing of a pattern of offensive conduct. *No one factor alone determines whether particular conduct violates the law. This goes back to carefully examining the totality of the circumstance.

*Harassment committed by the victim’s supervisor *Non-supervisor harassment.

*An employer is always responsible for harassment by a supervisor that culminates in a tangible employment action *If the harassment did not lead to a tangible employment action, the employer is liable unless: a. It exercised reasonable care to prevent and promptly correct any harassment b. The employee unreasonably failed to complain to management or to avoid harm otherwise.

*Significant change in employment status a. hiring b. firing c. promotion d. failure to promote e. demotion f. undesirable reassignment

*Employee’s have a responsibility to report incidents of harassment to the district *The employee must also take reasonable steps to avoid the harm *Failure to report or failure to give the district a chance to correct the problem may result in a finding that a lawsuit by the victim may not go forward *This includes complaints of harassment by individuals outside the school district i. e. , parents, vendors, etc.

*Report the Incident to your direct Supervisor *Director *Human Resources Administrator

*Reporting is key. *Get more information regarding your rights through the Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) *Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)

*A fact-finding investigation is necessary, it should be launched *The individual who conducts the investigation will objectively gather and consider the relevant facts. *Possible action that may be taken during the investigation: a. transferring the alleged harasser b. non-disciplinary leave

*Oral or written warning, or reprimand *Transfer or reassignment demotion *Reduction of wages *Suspension *Discharge *Training or counseling for harasser *Monitoring of harasser

*Apology by the harasser *Restoration of leave taken because of harassment *Reinstatement *Expungment of negative evaluation that may have arisen because of harassment

*A district’s responsibility : a. A district’s responsibility to exercise reasonable care to prevent and correct harassment is not limited to implementing an anti-harassment policy and complaint procedure *Correct harassment regardless of whether an employee files an internal complaint, if the conduct is clearly unwelcome.

*Every employee has the responsibility to act in a professional, respectful way toward co-workers *In the end, you will be held responsible for your conduct. *Be mindful of the situations you put yourself in. *Our work environments should model those behaviors that are appropriate examples for our students.