Harassment 2.0

1.0    Purpose

This policy establishes guidelines for reporting and addressing harassment.

2.0    Revision History

3.0    Persons Affected

3.1    Casper College employees. (The process to grieve a Title IX decision is different from the process described in this policy. Employees who want to grieve a Title IX decision should contact the college’s Title IX administrator.)

3.2    Students (Refer to the Student Handbook)

3.3    Vendors

3.4    Campus visitors and volunteers

4.0    Policy

The policy of Casper College is to ensure the following.

4.1    The college strives to provide a safe academic and work environment in which people are treated with dignity, decency, and respect.

4.2    The college has an established procedure to report and address harassment.

4.3    The college conducts all investigations in a confidential manner.

4.4    The college prohibits any retaliation against anyone who reports harassment or participates in a harassment investigation.

4.5    The college abides by all applicable federal, state, and local anti-discrimination and harassment laws and regulations, including but not limited to, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act 1964, the Age Discrimination Act of 1975, and the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

5.0    Definitions

5.1    Harassment. Any verbal or non-verbal conduct or unwelcomed physical contact directed towards a person because of the person’s race, sex, color, national origin, religion, age, veteran status, political affiliation, disability, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other characteristic protected under applicable federal, state, or local law that to a reasonable person is designed to create a threatening, intimidating, demoralizing, hostile, or offensive work or academic environment. This policy also includes such conduct towards persons of non-protected groups, which are not necessarily illegal discrimination, but are nonetheless prohibited.

Verbal Conduct:  Examples include unwelcome or offensive comments such as epithets, slurs, lewd remarks, threats, jokes, innuendos, name-calling, and negative stereotyping.  

Nonverbal Conduct:  Examples include distribution or display of written or graphic material, suggestive or insulting sounds, leering, staring, obscene gestures, or other nonverbal communication that ridicules, denigrates, insults, belittles, or shows hostility, aversion, or disrespect.

Unwelcomed Physical Contact:  Examples include hitting, pushing, groping, grabbing, hugging, touching, or other unsolicited, unwelcomed, or unincited physical gestures.

5.2    Reporter. The affected person experiencing the alleged harassing behavior.

5.3    Respondent. The person(s) alleged to be responsible for the harassing behavior.

5.4    Independent Investigator (investigator). An individual selected by the Board of Trustees (BOT) to investigate a harassment charge when the respondent is the president. The individual should have investigative experience. The BOT will select an attorney to vet the individual to access any conflicts of interest. The individual cannot be someone who was or is currently employed at the college.

5.5    Sexual Harassment. A form of unlawful employment discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and is prohibited under this policy. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) defines this behavior as unwelcomed sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or nonverbal conduct or unwelcomed physical contact of a sexual nature especially when any of the following applies.

• Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment or academic status.
• Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment or academic decisions affecting the individual.
• Such conduct unreasonably interfering with an individual’s employment or educational performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work or academic environment.

Harassment does not include verbal expressions or written material that is relevant and appropriately related to course subject matter or curriculum, and this policy shall not abridge academic freedom or the college’s educational mission. In particular, this policy does not limit teaching of sexual topics legitimately related to the content or purposes of a course, even though such topics may elicit discomfort in a class member. Nor is this policy intended to limit scholarly research, publication, or public speaking on gender-related topics.

Instructors are encouraged to communicate clearly with their students when they plan to use sexually explicit content or material in their teaching. They are encouraged to do so in their syllabus, verbally at the beginning of the semester, and again immediately before showing or discussing material that is likely to cause students discomfort.  

5.6    False Allegations. This behavior occurs when a person knowingly or with reckless disregard for the truth makes a false accusation of harassment. Failure to prove a claim of harassment is not equivalent to a false allegation.

5.7    Retaliation. Any form of intimidation, reprisal, or harassment against an individual for reporting, responding to, or participating in an investigation of a harassment claim. Retaliation may include, but is not limited to, the following.

• Firing, refusing to hire, or refusing to promote an individual
• Departing from customary employment or academic practice regarding the individual
• Transferring an individual to a lesser position in terms of wages, hours, job classification, job security, or employment or academic status
• Informing anyone who does not have a need to know that an individual has reported or participated in an investigation of a harassment complaint
• Impeding an individual’s academic advancement

6.0    Responsibilities

6.1    The human resources (HR) director is responsible for maintaining compliance with this policy.

6.2    All college employees are responsible for reporting harassing behavior.

6.3    Administrators and supervisors who become aware of a harassment incident or retaliation are responsible for promptly addressing the situation and contacting HR.

7.0    Procedures

Reporting

7.1    Harassment may often be resolved when the reporter addresses the matter directly with the respondent. When such a resolution is not feasible or safe, the reporter or person(s) who witness another person being harassed or retaliated against should report the harassment or retaliation as soon as possible. Following are typical, but not exclusive, reporting lines. The reporter may select a different reporting line if the reporter thinks the matter was addressed insufficiently.

• Employees report any incidents to their supervisor or to the HR director.
• All others report any incidents to the campus safety and security coordinator or HR director.

7.2    Employees who receive a harassment or retaliation complaint must immediately inform the HR director of the complaint, and must keep the information confidential. Administrators and supervisors, in particular, who fail to report a complaint will be subject to disciplinary action.

Investigation

7.3    After receiving a complaint, the HR director will notify the respondent(s) and determine if there is a reasonable basis for thinking that the alleged violation has occurred and if further investigation is needed. If the complaint warrants further investigation or action, the HR director will involve only people pertinent to the investigation.

7.4    The HR director notifies the president when there is evidence to support a harassment or retaliation complaint or if someone has made a false allegation.

The HR director, in consultation with the appropriate supervisors may place one or both parties on leave with pay. The reporter’s leave will be without pay if after the investigation the reporter is found to have made a false allegation. The respondent’s leave will be without pay if the respondent is found at fault. If the respondent is the president, the HR director will ask the BOT in a closed executive session to provide direction regarding any leave for the president.

7.5    The HR director will conduct the investigation. When the respondent is the president, the HR director will provide initial findings to the BOT in a closed executive session. The BOT will determine next steps, including the option to select an investigator to conduct further investigation. The investigator, reporter, respondent, witnesses, and anyone involved in the investigation will sign a confidentiality statement.

Outcomes

7.6    Upon completion of the investigation, the HR director will submit a written report of the investigation findings to the president and, if applicable, to the appropriate supervisors and associate vice president of student affairs. When the respondent is the president and an investigator was hired, the investigator will submit a written report of the investigation findings to the BOT.

7.7    The president, HR director, and other relevant employees (such as the appropriate supervisors) will determine appropriate disciplinary or corrective action of either party, which may include but are not limited to, a warning, suspension, or employment termination or academic dismissal. When the respondent is the president, the BOT will meet in executive session to determine disciplinary or corrective action of either party.

7.8    The HR director will notify the reporter and respondent separately of the findings of the investigation.

7.9    If the investigation is inconclusive or it is determined that there has been no violation of policy but potentially problematic conduct may have occurred, the HR director may recommend appropriate preventive action to either the reporter or the respondent. If the respondent is the president, the BOT may recommend appropriate preventive action to the president in executive session.

7.10    Nothing in this policy prohibits the reporter or respondent from pursuing formal legal remedies or resolution through local, state, or federal agencies or the courts.