Definition of Sexual Harassment
Sexual harassment is defined as 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, under any of the following conditions:
- submission to the conduct is made a term or condition of an individual's employment, academic status, or progress;
- 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; 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.
For the purpose of further clarification, sexual harassment includes many forms of offensive behavior and includes gender based harassment of a person of the same sex as the harasser. The following is a partial list:
- Making unsolicited written, verbal, physical, and/or visual contacts with sexual overtones. (Examples of possible sexual harassment that appear in a written form include, but are not limited to: suggestive or obscene letters, notes, and invitations.) (Examples of possible verbal sexual harassment include, but are not limited to: leering, gestures, display of sexually aggressive objects or pictures, cartoons, or posters.)
- Continuing to express sexual interest after being informed that the interest is unwelcome.
- Making reprisals, threats of reprisal, or implied threats of reprisal following a rebuff of harassing behavior. The following are examples of conduct in an academic environment that might be found to be sexual harassment: implying or actually withholding grades earned or deserved; suggesting a poor performance evaluation will be prepared; or suggesting a scholarship recommendation or college application will be denied.
- Engaging in explicit or implicit coercive sexual behavior within the work environment which is used to control, influence, or affect the employee's career, salary, and/or work environment.
- Engaging in explicit or implicit coercive sexual behavior within the educational environment that is used to control, influence, or affect the educational opportunities, grades and/or learning environment of a student.
- Offering favors or educational or employment benefits, such as grades or promotions, favorable performance evaluations, favorable assignments, favorable duties or shifts, recommendations, reclassifications, etc., in exchange for sexual favors.
(AP 3430, 12/7/09, 3/10/16, and AP 3435, 9/13/11, 5/21/13, 3/10/16)
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