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SEXUAL HARASSMENT OR ASSAULT

What Is Title IX?

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 is a federal civil rights law that prohibits sex discrimination in education programs or activities that receive federal funding, including athletic programs.  Title IX holds schools liable for sex discrimination, including sexual harassment and sexual assault.

“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

Under Title IX, discrimination on the basis of sex can include sexual harassment, rape, dating violence, domestic violence, sexual assault, and stalking.

Sexual Harassment

Introduction

Education Code 66281.5(b) requires the adoption of a policy statement setting forth the District’s commitment to provide an educational and work environment free from unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct or communications constituting sexual harassment.

Purpose

It is the intent of the Board of Trustees to deem as unacceptable any form of sexual harassment. Such conduct undermines the integrity of the classroom and/or the employment relationship or work/academic environment. Conduct constituting sexual harassment will not be tolerated in the District. It is understood that this policy is not intended to infringe upon Academic Freedom except to the extent provided by law.

Description

The policy applies to all aspects of employment and the academic environment, including but not limited to classroom conditions, grades, academic standing, employment opportunities, scholarships, recommendations, disciplinary actions, and participation in any community college activity.

All District employees who violate this policy may be subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination in accordance with applicable college procedures, Education Code sections, and/or collective bargaining agreements. Students who violate this policy may be subject to disciplinary measures up to and including expulsion in accordance with District policies and college procedures. Non-employees, such as sales representatives or service vendors are also covered by this policy and may be subject to corrective measures.

The District is concerned with the rights of the accused as well as the accuser and shall afford due process rights accordingly.

Definitions

General Harassment: Harassment based on race, religious creed, color, national origin, ancestry, physical disability, mental disability, medical condition, genetic information, marital status, sex, gender, gender identity, gender expression, age, sexual orientation of any person, military and veteran status, or the perception that a person has one or more of these characteristics is illegal and violates District policy. Harassment shall be found where a reasonable person with the same characteristics as the victim of the harassing conduct would be adversely affected to a degree that interferes with his/her ability to participate in or to realize the intended benefits of an institutional activity, employment, or resource.

For Sexual Harassment under Title IX: Complainants must proceed under Board Policy 3433 Prohibition of Sexual Harassment under Title IX, Administrative Procedure 3433 Prohibition of Sexual Harassment under Title IX, Administrative Procedure 3434 Responding to Harassment Based on Sex under Title IX.

For other forms of sexual harassment or gender-based harassment, Complainants should follow the procedure for Nondiscrimination (above).

Gender-based harassment does not necessarily involve conduct that is sexual. Any hostile or offensive conduct based on gender can constitute prohibited harassment if it meets the definition above. For example, repeated derisive comments about a person’s competency to do the job, when based on that person’s gender, could constitute gender-based harassment. Harassment comes in many forms, including but not limited to the following conduct that could, depending on the circumstances, meet the definition above, or could contribute to a set of circumstances that meets the definition:

Verbal: Inappropriate or offensive remarks, slurs, jokes or innuendoes based on a person’s race gender, sexual orientation, or other protected status. This may include, but is not limited to, inappropriate comments regarding an individual's body, physical appearance, attire, sexual prowess, marital status or sexual orientation; unwelcome flirting or propositions; demands for sexual favors; verbal abuse, threats or intimidation; or sexist, patronizing or ridiculing statements that convey derogatory attitudes based on gender, race nationality, sexual orientation or other protected status.

Physical: Inappropriate or offensive touching, assault, or physical interference with free movement. This may include, but is not limited to, kissing, patting, lingering or intimate touches, grabbing, pinching, leering, staring, unnecessarily brushing against or blocking another person, whistling or sexual gestures. It also includes any physical assault or intimidation directed at an individual due to that person’s gender, race, national origin, sexual orientation or other protected status. Physical sexual harassment includes acts of sexual violence, such as rape, sexual assault, sexual battery, and sexual coercion. Sexual violence refers to physical sexual acts perpetrated against a person’s will or where a person is incapable of giving consent due to the victim’s use of drugs or alcohol. An individual also may be unable to give consent due to an intellectual or other disability.

Visual or Written: The display or circulation of visual or written material that degrades an individual or group based on gender, race, nationality, sexual orientation, or other protected status. This may include, but is not limited to, posters, cartoons, drawings, graffiti, reading materials, computer graphics, or electronic media transmissions.

Environmental: A hostile academic or work environment may exist where it is permeated by sexual innuendo; insults or abusive comments directed at an individual or group based on gender, race, nationality, sexual orientation or other protected status; or gratuitous comments regarding gender, race, sexual orientation, or other protected status that are not relevant to the subject matter of the class or activities on the job. A hostile environment can arise from an unwarranted focus on sexual topics or sexually suggestive statements in the classroom or work environment. It can also be created by an unwarranted focus on, or stereotyping of, particular racial or ethnic groups, sexual orientations, genders or other protected statuses. An environment may also be hostile toward anyone who merely witnesses unlawful harassment in his/her immediate surroundings, although the conduct is directed at others. The determination of whether an environment is hostile is based on the totality of the circumstances, including such factors as the frequency of the conduct, the severity of the conduct, whether the conduct is humiliating or physically threatening, and whether the conduct unreasonably interferes with an individual's learning or work.

Sexual Harassment: In addition to the above, sexual harassment consists of unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature made by someone from, or in, the work or educational setting when:

  • submission to the conduct is explicitly or implicitly made a term or condition of an individual's employment, academic status, progress, internship, or volunteer activity;

  • submission to, or rejection of, the conduct by the individual is used as a basis of employment or academic decisions affecting the individual;

  • the conduct has the purpose or effect of having a negative impact upon the individual's work or academic performance, or of creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work or educational environment (as more fully described below); or

  • submission to, or rejection of, the conduct by the individual is used as the basis for any decision affecting the individual regarding benefits and services, honors, programs, or activities available at or through the community college.

This definition encompasses two kinds of sexual harassment:

"Quid pro quo" sexual harassment occurs when a person in a position of authority makes educational or employment benefits conditional upon an individual's willingness to engage in or tolerate unwanted sexual conduct.

"Hostile environment" sexual harassment occurs when unwelcome conduct based on a person’s gender alters the conditions of an individual's learning or work environment, unreasonably interfere with an individual's academic or work performance, or create an intimidating, hostile, or abusive learning or work environment. The victim must subjectively perceive the environment as hostile, and the harassment must be such that a reasonable person of the same gender would perceive the environment as hostile. A single or isolated incident of sexual harassment may be sufficient to create a hostile environment if it unreasonably interfered with the person’s academic or work performance or created an intimidating, hostile, or offensive learning or working environment.

Sexually harassing conduct can occur between people of the same or different genders. The standard for determining whether conduct constitutes sexual harassment is whether a reasonable person of the same gender as the victim would perceive the conduct as harassment based on sex.

Consensual Relationships: Romantic or sexual relationships between supervisors and employees, or between administrators, faculty, or staff members and students are discouraged. There is an inherent imbalance of power and potential for exploitation in such relationships. A conflict of interest may arise if the administrator, faculty or staff member must evaluate the student's or employee's work or make decisions affecting the employee or student. The relationship may create an appearance of impropriety and lead to charges of favoritism by other students or employees. A consensual sexual relationship may change, with the result that sexual conduct that was once welcome becomes unwelcome and harassing. In the event that such relationships occur, the District has the authority to transfer any involved employee, to eliminate or attenuate the supervisory authority of one over the other, or of a teacher over a student. Such action by the District is a proactive and preventative measure to avoid possible charges of harassment and does not constitute discipline against any affected employee.

Academic Freedom: No provision of this Administrative Procedure shall be interpreted to prohibit conduct that is legitimately related to the course content, teaching methods, scholarship, or public commentary of an individual faculty member or the educational, political, artistic, or literary expression of students in classrooms and public forums. Freedom of speech and academic freedom are, however, not limitless and this procedure will not protect speech or expressive conduct that violates Federal or California anti-discrimination laws.