Recognizing and Preventing Harassment on Campus

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• Recognizing and Preventing Harassment on Campus

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What Will We Learn?

• RECOGNITION and PREVENTION
• Know it when you see it.
• Know what to do about it.
• Understand your role.
• Know how and when to react to it.

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What is Workplace Harassment?

• Conduct that degrades or shows hostility or
  aversion toward an individual because of his or
  her protected status, or that of his or her
  relatives, friends, or associates, and that
• (1) has the purpose or effect of creating an
  intimidating, hostile, or offensive working
  environment
• (2) has the purpose or effect of unreasonably
  interfering with an individuals work
  performance or
• (3) otherwise adversely affects an individuals
  employment opportunity.

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Key terms Discrimination . . .

• Treating employees or students differently based
  on their protected characteristic.
• Harassing employees or students, or allowing
  employees or students to be harassed, based on
  their protected characteristic.

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Key terms Protected Characteristic

• Gender
• Race
• Religion
• Color
• Ethnicity
• Sexual Orientation
• Age
• Disability
• National Origin
• Genetics (11/1/2009)

• State and federal law prohibits employers from
  discriminating against employees based on their
  Protected categories

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Harassment?

• A staff member reportedly makes derogatory
  remarks about gays and lesbians, and has
  denounced gay marriages as unnatural and
  against the laws of nature.
• A faculty member displays outbursts of temper. He
  publicly criticizes his students. This criticism
  can be very personal he has used terms such as
  lazy, idiot, slacker, beyond stupid, and
  brain-dead. He has yelled at students for being
  late. He ordered a student to have all of her
  written work reviewed by another student because
  he found spelling errors in a document.

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What is Sexual Harassment?

• Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual
  favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a
  sexual nature when
• (a) submission to such conduct is made either
  explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of
  employment or as a basis for employment decisions
  or
• (b) such requests or conduct have the purpose or
  effect of unreasonably interfering with an
  individuals work performance by creating an
  intimidating, hostile, humiliating, or sexually
  offensive work environment.

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Sexual Harassment Law and the Academic Environment

• Two important pieces of legislation Title VII of
  the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Title IX of the
  Education Amendments of 1972.
• Title VII prohibits sexual harassment in the
  terms and conditions of employment. That means
  Title VII specifically governs the rights of
  employees.
• Title IX states that no person in the United
  States shall on the basis of sex, be denied the
  benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination
  under any education program or activity receiving
  Federal financial assistance.
• The Civil Rights Act of 1991 provides additional
  rights and remedies.

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The Department of Education definition

• Hostile environment harassment occurs when
  unwelcome conduct of a sexual nature is so
  severe, persistent, or pervasive that it affects
  a student's ability to participate in or benefit
  from an education program or activity, or creates
  an intimidating, threatening or abusive
  educational environment. Office of Civil
  Rights, Questions and Answers about Sexual
  Harassment

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Unpleasant Behavior is not Always Unlawful
Discrimination

• Individuals often use the phrase hostile
  environment to describe any condition they find
  unpleasant.
• Law does not require work or school to be an
  idyllic retreat.
• Threshold questions under law
• Are all employees or students treated
  consistently?
• If conditions are inconsistent, is inconsistency
  related to protected characteristic, such as race
  or sex?

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Why Address Harassment?

• Legal Obligation
• College Values, Policies
• Cost
• Reputation
• Morale
• Productivity

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The Dollars

• California State University at Fresno had a bad
  year in 2007.
• Linda Vivas, former volleyball coach. 5.85
  million dollars.
• Diane Milutinovich, former Athletic Director.
  3.5 million dollars.
• Stacy Johnson-Klein, former basketball coach.
  19.1 million dollars.

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How Common is Sexual Harassment in the workplace?

• Approximately 15,000 cases of sexual harassment
  are brought to the U.S. Equal Employment
  Opportunity Commission each year.
• The EEOC reports that in 2007 approximately 16
  of the complaints filed were from men.
• Media and government surveys report that
  approximately 40-60 of women experience some
  form of sexual harassment in the workplace.

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How Common is Sexual Harassment on Campuses?

• 81 of students will experience some form of
  harassment during their school lives.
• 85 report that theyve witnessed students
  harassing other students in their schools.
• 40 of students report that faculty and other
  school employees sexually harass students in
  their schools.
• AAUW reported in 2006 that 62 of female college
  students and 61 of male college students
  indicated that they have been sexually harassed
  at their college or university.

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The student-on-student harassment standard

• Actionable harassment is limited to that behavior
  so severe, pervasive and objectively offensive
  that the victims are effectively denied equal
  access to an institutions resources and
  opportunities. (Davis v. Monroe County Board of
  Education, 1999.)

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Action Steps for Eliminating Harassment

• Carefully drafted definitions and clear policies.
• Accessible, clearly communicated grievance
  procedures.
• Ongoing efforts to educate all members of the
  campus community.

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Harassment, Academic Freedom and the Classroom

• Courts try to balance faculty and student conduct
  with concerns for academic freedom.
• Academic freedom is not a license for a single
  group or person to act without regard for
  another.
• Academic freedom carries with it the duty to use
  that freedom in a manner consistent with the
  scholarly obligation to base research and
  teaching on an honest search for knowledge.
• Considerations The U. S. Supreme Courts
  reasonably related to a legitimate pedagogical
  (or educational) interest standard. (Hazelwood
  School District v. Kuhlmeier, 1988.)

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Harassment?

• Focus is like sex. You seek a target. You zero
  in on your subject. You move from side to side.
  You close in on the subject. You bracket the
  subject and center on it. Focus connects
  experience and language. You and the subject
  become one. a writing professor.
• You're smart -- for a woman. Was that sexist? I
  have to tease to keep you awake. . . . The
  problem in schools is uppity, greedy women. . . .
  If I were king, all women teachers would have to
  spend fifteen minutes on a moonlit night, in a
  canoe, on a lake with a drunken sailor. . . .
  Suppose a husband and wife came to your adult
  education class and requested you teach a class
  on lovemaking because the cause of divorce is
  incompatibility and lovemaking is part of
  compatibility -- so would you teach a class on
  lovemaking? Foreplay? Afterplay? an education
  professor.

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• Silva v. University of New Hampshire, a federal
  district court sided with Silva. Finding that his
  classroom statements advanced valid educational
  objective of conveying certain principles related
  to the subject matter of his course.
• Rubin v. Ikenberry, et. al., a federal district
  court upheld a decision at the University of
  Illinois to discipline a tenured professor for
  repeated sexual comments, inquiries, and jokes,
  in and out of class.

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Levels of Sexual Harassment

• Gender Harassment
• Seductive Behavior
• Sexual Bribery
• Sexual Coercion
• Sexual Imposition

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What Is Involved in Sexual Harassment?

• The harassment can be physical (touching,
  kissing), verbal (lewd jokes, sexual comments),
  and visual (pornographic materials).
• The conduct must be sexual in nature.
• The conduct must be severe and/or pervasive.
• The conduct must be unwelcome.
• The conduct must be both subjectively and
  objectively offensive (reasonable person
  standard)

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Harassment?

• A small group of male faculty frequently gathers
  for coffee in one of their offices before classes
  in the morning. Their conversation often includes
  jokes or banter with sexual overtones. The
  offices are in close proximity to the work area
  of the female administrative assistant for the
  department, and students are frequently nearby.
  The administrative assistant complains to the
  Department Chair that she finds these discussions
  offensive. 

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What Determines If Conduct Is Unwelcome?

• The definition provided under the law states that
  unwelcome behavior is any form of inappropriate
  behavior or contact between two people which is
  not solicited or approved.
• Considerations
• Is there an equal level of initiation and
  participation in the behavior?
• Can it be fairly said that there is equal
  economic power between the people involved?

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Avoiding Unwelcome Behavior

• Think about the possible outcomes of your
  actions, before you act.
• Take into account the feelings of others,
  especially related to their present state of
  mental or emotional well-being.
• Be sensitive to cultural and/or gender
  differences.
• Exercise common courtesies from one day to the
  next.
• Think twice before making a joke (any joke) or
  comment.
• If youre not clear, then check with the
  colleges polices and/or ask someone in
  authority.

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Some questions to consider

• How would I feel if I were in the position of the
  recipient?
• Would my spouse, partner, parent, child, sibling,
  or friend like to be treated this way?
• Would I like my behavior published in the campus
  paper or aired in the local television news?
• Could my behavior offend or hurt others around
  me?
• Could someone misinterpret my behavior as
  intentionally harmful or harassing?
• Would I be able to defend my behavior or actions
  in a harassment claim, charge, or lawsuit?

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What is the reasonable person standard?

• People are exposed to attitudes, images,
  comments, and ideas that they might find
  objectionable on a daily basis, however they
  dont always see such things as being immediately
  harmful to their day-to-day enjoyment of life or
  personal safety.
• If the behavior perpetrated extends beyond what
  would be considered acceptable by a resonable
  person, then an instance of harassment has
  occurred.

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Harassment?

• Upon actually arriving at Convocation, I found
  myself behind a topless girl with painful-looking
  nipple piercing when I turned around to look for
  a clock, I realized I was face-to-face with the
  sheer-fabric-covered crotch of the girl behind
  me. I left and Ive never been to Convocation
  since.

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What Is Involved in Sexual Harassment?

• Acceptance of or submission to such conduct is
  made either explicitly or implicitly a term or
  condition of employment.
• The individuals response to said conduct is used
  as a basis for decisions impacting the employee.
• The harasser may be the victims supervisor, a
  supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a
  non-employee.
• The victim does not have to be the person
  targeted for the conduct.

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Recognizing Sexual Harassment

• VERBAL
• Telling sexual stories or jokes and using
  four-letter obscenities.
• Using such terms as sweetie, doll, honey, dearie,
  babe.
• Making sexual comments and innuendoes about a
  persons body or appearance.
• Probing into a persons sexual experience or
  preferences.
• Making suggestive sounds or whistling at a person.

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Harassment?

• Gary, a math instructor, heard a new joke over
  the weekend. The punch line of the joke was a bit
  bawdy, but Gary found it amusing. He tells the
  joke to his morning Math class. Several of his
  students are offended.

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Harassment?

• Carl is teaching a class in Interpersonal
  Communication. During a heated debate with his
  students, he uses some derogatory slang toward
  women to illustrate his position. Several of the
  female students are shocked by his comments. Carl
  explains that he didnt intend to offend the
  female students, as he wasnt referring to anyone
  in the class.

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Nonverbal...

• Leering and ogling suggestively at a person
• Following a person or blocking their way
• Showing a sexually explicit picture, cartoon or
  other visual
• Making suggestive gestures or body movements
• Sending unwanted notes or other written material
• Giving unwanted personal gifts

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Physical...

• Touching a persons clothing or hair
• Massaging a persons neck or shoulders
• Leaning over, standing too close to, or brushing
  up against a person invading their space
• Kissing, caressing or pinching a person

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Harassment?

• Gloria teaches an English 101 class in the
  evenings. At the end of one of her sessions, one
  of her older students, Malcolm, stays behind to
  talk with Gloria. During their exchange, Malcolm
  professes his affections for the instructor and
  casually touches Glorias dress.

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Effects of Harassment and Sexual Harassment
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Responsibility for Harassment

• The College.
• The Harasser.
• Third Parties.

• Whos Liable?
• The legal consequences of sexual harassment
  violations and charges can include civil and
  criminal suits brought against individuals or the
  organization as a whole.

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The Colleges Duties...

• Title VII and Title IX imposes a duty to guard
  against harassment and to take effective steps
  when a violation occurs, such as proven,
  effective means by which an employee or student
  can report complaints.
• Prompt action hours, rather than days, and days,
  rather than weeks.
• Sufficient awareness of the civil and private
  rights of the accused.

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Your Role and Responsibilities

• To create and support a safe and respectful
  learning environment and workplace.
•  Abstaining from conduct, behavior, or speech
  that might be offensive in nature or deemed
  sexual harassment by your colleagues, students,
  or other staff.
• Reporting any activities or actions which you
  feel are inappropriate, enforcing the rules and
  policies of the college, and working with
  administrators and senior staff to support and
  protect the well-being of all staff and students.

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Guidelines for Dealing With a Complaint

• Listen to the complaint carefully without
  judging. Explain the process.
• Conduct investigation.
• Interview accused party and relevant others.
• Determine credibility of allegation and take
  appropriate action.
• Document the entire process. And do follow up.

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The Issue of Retaliation

• Retaliation against individuals seeking to
  protect their civil rights is prohibited and
  can serve as the basis for a separate complaint
  from that of discrimination.

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The Coffee Club again

• A small group of male faculty frequently gathers
  for coffee in one of their offices before classes
  in the morning. Their conversation often includes
  jokes or banter with sexual overtones. The
  offices are in close proximity to the work area
  of the female administrative assistant for the
  department, and students are frequently nearby.
• When the administrative assistant complained to
  the Department Chair, he relocated her desk to an
  office at the end of the hallway, far from the
  office where the coffee club gathers. This
  office is somewhat isolated, smaller, and has no
  windows. The Chair also spoke with the male
  faculty members in question, who apologized to
  the administrative assistant. Embarrassed and
  upset by the complaint, these faculty members
  have not engaged in anything but work-related
  conversations with the assistant. Some have
  pointedly ignored her when she wishes them a
  "Good Morning". 

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Your Responsibilities

• Listen to concerns of the employee or student
• Follow-through
• Seek appropriate assistance
• Assist in follow-up

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What Can The Target Of Harassment Do?

• Be sure that to know all policies and procedures.
  
• Report the harassment immediately.
• Talk to a friend.
• Tell harasser to stop!
• Document Everything
• Personal Log, Evidence, Record of action
  taken, Phone calls, Witness statements

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What Can The Target Of Harassment Do?

• Know your rights under the Massachusetts
  harassment/sexual harassment law, and the federal
  laws prohibiting harassment/sexual harassment.
• If warranted, file a complaint with the U.S.
  Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or
  the Massachusetts Commission Against
  Discrimination (MCAD).

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What Can We All Do to Prevent Harassment?

• Respect differences.
• Communicate concerns.
• Never take the position that the anyone should
  simply learn to cope with or ignore the
  harassment!!