Discrimination and Harassment Policy Guide

Discrimination and Harassment Free Workplace

 Protected class status under federal law includes:
 race, color and national origin;
 sex (includes pregnancy-related conditions);
 religion;
 age (40 and older);
 disability;
 a person who uses leave covered by the Federal Family and
Medical Leave Act;
 a person who uses Military Leave;
 a person who associates with a protected class;
 a person who opposes unlawful employment practices, files a
complaint or testifies about violations or possible violations; and
 any other protected class as defined by federal law.


 Protected class status under Oregon law
includes:
 All federally protected classes, plus:
 age (18 and older);
 physical or mental disability;
 injured worker;
 a person who uses leave covered by the Oregon Family
Leave Act;
 marital status and family relationships;
 sexual orientation;
 whistleblower;
 expunged juvenile record; and
 any other protected class as defined by state law.


Discrimination is
 A supervisor or person in authority making employment
decisions related to hiring, firing, transferring, promoting,
demoting, benefits, compensation, and other terms and
conditions of employment, because of an employee’s protected
class status.


 *Examples of discrimination include:
 A supervisor refusing to hire a well qualified candidate
because she is pregnant.
 Upon “discovering” an employee’s age, a supervisor
transfers a well qualified 45 year old employee from the
“teen unit” to the “senior citizen unit.”

*The examples are assuming a Bonafide Occupational
Qualification (BFOQ) or other circumstances do not exist.


Workplace Harassment is

 Unwelcome, unwanted or offensive conduct based on
or because of an employee’s protected class status.


 Examples of workplace harassment include:
 An employee repeatedly addresses coworkers with
derogatory comments or stereotypes related to their race or
religion. The employee calls a coworker wearing a turban,
“Towel Head,” calls a Hispanic coworker, “Beaner,” and
calls a Jewish coworker “Cheap Skate.”
 An employee tries to get a coworker to resign by spreading
untrue, malicious gossip about the coworker, because of the
coworker’s disability.


Sexual Harassment is
 Unwelcome, unwanted, or offensive sexual advances, requests for
sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual
nature when:
 1. Submission to the conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a
term or condition of the individual’s employment; or is used as a
basis for any employment decision (granting leave requests,
promotion, favorable performance appraisal, etc.); or
 2. The conduct is unwelcome, unwanted, or offensive and has the
purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s
work performance, or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive
working environment.


 Examples of sexual harassment include:
 A supervisor telling a subordinate employee
that if he/she accompanies the supervisor for a
weekend get-away, the supervisor might be
able to arrange for some paid time off for the
employee, or look into a promotion for the
employee.
 A person in authority threatening to discredit a
subordinate employee if they won’t attend a
party with them after work.


 Any employee believing they have been subjected
to discrimination, workplace harassment or sexual
harassment should report that behavior to their
immediate supervisor, another member of
management or the agency Human Resource
section.
 A complaint may be made verbally or in writing.


 Why is it important for employees to report discrimination,
workplace harassment and sexual harassment?
 Answer
 Discrimination ,workplace harassment and sexual harassment can cause:
 Employees to be hurt emotionally
 Productivity to go down
 Absenteeism to go up
 The work of the agency to be jeopardized
 Employees to be fearful of others
 Workplace morale to be reduced
 When management knows about the problem it can be corrected
 Discrimination, workplace harassment and sexual harassment must be
stopped!


 Why do employee’s hesitate to report discrimination,
workplace harassment and sexual harassment?
 Answer
 Fear of losing their job
 Fear of retaliation
 Fear of getting someone into trouble
 Fear of disrupting the workplace
 Fear of being accused of having no sense of humor
 Fear of being embarrassed
 Fear of feeling like “less of a man/woman”
 Fear of not being believed. Discrimination and harassment are
generally subtle and inconspicuous.

 What can a supervisor do to help employees feel safe reporting
discrimination, workplace harassment and sexual harassment?
 Answer
 Set an example of respectful workplace behavior.
 Have clear expectations that discrimination, workplace harassment and
sexual harassment are not tolerated.
 Have a clear mechanism for reporting; including the ability to report to
another member of management should the supervisor be the accused.
 Take immediate steps to stop inappropriate behavior or conduct as it occurs
or is reported.
 Guard against retaliation.
 Handle investigations as discretely and confidentially as possible.
 Be sensitive to the feelings of all involved. It is not easy for the complainant,
the accused or anyone participating in an investigation.


 Once a complaint of discrimination,
workplace harassment or sexual
harassment is made, the agency must
promptly investigate the complaint.
 Complaints are taken seriously and are
confidential to the extent possible.
 Employees are expected to cooperate with
an investigation and keep information
regarding the investigation confidential.


Scenario: An employee reports harassment to his/her supervisor
and says, “I don’t want you to do anything about this. I just want
you to listen and be aware of what is going on.”
 How should the supervisor respond?
 Answer
 A supervisor cannot promise to “just listen and be aware.”
 Once a supervisor receives a report of harassment or discrimination, a
supervisor has an obligation to take action.
 In fact, a supervisor has the responsibility to ensure the integrity of the
workplace. A supervisor must exercise reasonable care to prevent and
promptly correct any discrimination, workplace harassment or sexual
harassment they know about or should know about.


Scenario: A supervisor receives a report of sexual harassment.
The supervisor has seen such reports divide a workforce.
 What advice would you give the supervisor to help minimize
disruption to the workplace?
 Answer
 Conduct an investigation discretely and quickly.
 Caution all parties not to discuss the investigation.
 Direct employees back to work who are talking about the accused or the
complainant in regards to the report.
 Work to keep up morale in the office and ensure work is being accomplished.
 Be proactive. Having established expectations in place that do not allow
gossiping and other non-productive or destructive activities is a preventative
measure a supervisor should take.


 How should an agency treat an employee accused of
discrimination, workplace harassment or sexual harassment?
 Answer
 An employee accused of discrimination, workplace harassment or sexual
harassment should be treated with professionalism and respect, as you
would any employee.
 Just because an employee has been accused, does not mean the employee
is guilty.
 The accused employee has a chance to defend him/herself and present
information and witnesses.
 An agency must conduct a neutral investigation. Conclusions should not be
reached until the investigation is complete.


Scenario: An employee filed a report of harassment with
her supervisor. After an investigation the agency did not
agree that harassment occurred. Because harassment was
not found, the employee worries that she will be disciplined.

 Are the employee’s worries founded?
 Answer
 No. An employee will not be disciplined for making a report of what the
employee believes is harassment.
 Harassment is a term often used for lack of a better way to describe
what an employee feels he/she is experiencing.
 Sometimes an investigation will conclude that a particular behavior was
not harassment or discrimination but was inappropriate workplace
behavior.


 The complainant and the accused will be notified
individually when an investigation is concluded.
They will be told if any part of the complaint is
substantiated. The complainant will not be told
specifics of any action taken against the
accused.
 Employees engaging in conduct in violation of
this policy may be subject to disciplinary action,
up to and including dismissal.
 State temporary employees or volunteers
engaging in conduct in violation of this policy
may be subject to termination of their working or
volunteer relationship with the agency.

 An employee who harasses another employee because
of their protected class status, or sexually harasses
another employee, while away from the workplace and
outside of working hours, may be subject to the
provisions of this policy if that conduct has a negative
impact on the environment at work and/or working
relationships and/or the employer’s business.
 Even consensual relationships can impact the work
environment when one party decides they no longer wish
to participate.
 Supervisor/subordinate relationships can also impact the
work environment because of actual or perceived
preferential treatment.


 If a complaint involves the conduct of a
contracted employee or a contractor,
management will address the problem
behavior with the contractor and require
prompt, appropriate action.
 If a complaint involves the conduct of a
client, customer, or visitor, the agency
should follow its own internal procedures
and take prompt, appropriate action.


Scenario: A technician is contracted to maintain the office copy
machine. Each time the technician makes a service call the
technician tells a dirty joke. Some employees can’t wait for the
machine to break down, just so they can hear the latest joke.
 Even though no employees have complained, what is the
supervisor’s responsibility?
 Answer
 The supervisor has an obligation to maintain the integrity of the office
environment.
 The supervisor should direct the employees back to work.
 Even though the technician is not an employee, the supervisor should tell the
technician to stop telling dirty jokes.
 The supervisor should contact the company holding the contract and report
the behavior and request prompt corrective action.


 Retaliating against employees who file
complaints, participate in investigations, or
report observing discrimination, workplace
harassment or sexual harassment is Retaliation
prohibited.
 If an employee believes they have been
retaliated against, the employee should report
the retaliatory behavior to their supervisor,
another manager, or the agency Human
Resource section, Executive Director or chair.
 Complaints of retaliation will be investigated
promptly.


Scenario: An investigation resulted in an employee being
disciplined for sexual harassment. The disciplined employee
was mad and encouraged others to shun those who participated
in the investigation. You have been asked to refuse to speak to
your coworkers who reported the employee’s behavior to the
supervisor.
 What can you do?
 Answer
 Just as discrimination and harassment are prohibited, so is retaliation.
 Refuse to participate in retaliation against your coworkers. The morale of the
staff has already been harmed. You do not want to contribute to further
problems.
 Report this behavior to management.


A Quiz (True or False)
 Discrimination, workplace harassment and
sexual harassment can be illegal behavior.
 True
 Employment actions taken against employees that are
based on or because of an employee’s protected class
status are illegal, violating federal and state law.
 Unwelcome, unwanted or offensive sexual advances or
requests for sexual favors which require submission in
exchange for employment action or inaction are illegal,
violating federal and state law.


 Harassment is limited to exchanges between men and
women.
 False
 Harassment can occur between men and women, women and
women, and men and men.


 Only a member of management has the power to eliminate
discrimination, workplace harassment and sexual
harassment in the workplace.
 False
 Only a supervisor/manager has the authority to discipline an employee
for engaging in discrimination, workplace harassment or sexual
harassment.
 Employees at every level of the agency have the power to prevent and
eliminate discrimination, workplace harassment and sexual harassment
by:
 Being a role model for appropriate workplace behavior;
 Not engaging in it; and
 Being comfortable enough to tell each other respectfully when they have
been offended.


 If I tell my manager I am being harassed my manager can
guarantee my name will be kept out of it.
 False.
 A manager receiving a report of harassment has an obligation to keep the
information as confidential as possible.
 Human Resources and specific members of management may need to
have some or all of the information from your report.
 In order for the accused to answer questions and defend him/herself,
he/she will need specifics.
 Witnesses will be given limited information.


 Prevention is the most effective way to eliminate
discrimination, workplace harassment and sexual harassment
in the workplace .
 True
 Taking a proactive stance to create and maintain a respectful work
environment is the most effective way to prevent discrimination, workplace
harassment and sexual harassment.
 This can be accomplished by:
 Educating the workforce about discrimination, workplace harassment and
sexual harassment;
 Having clear guidelines for reporting discrimination, workplace harassment
and sexual harassment; and
 Making it clear that that discrimination, workplace harassment and sexual
harassment are prohibited and retaliating against someone for reporting is
prohibited.


 Together we must work to create
and maintain a work environment
that is free from discrimination,
workplace harassment and sexual
harassment.

End

Discrimination and Harassment Policy Guide

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