HomeMy WebLinkAboutAnti-Discrimination and Harassment PolicyEffective: March 1, 2015
Anti-Discrimination and
Harassment Policy
Background
Under federal and state civil rights laws, employers are prohibited from
making any employment decision on the basis of an individual's
membership in a protected class. Harassment is a form of illegal
discrimination under state and federal civil rights laws if it is based on any
of the "protected classes" noted in the Anti-Discrimination and Harassment
Policy (“Policy”).
Scope
The Policy supersedes all previously issued policies relative to this subject
matter.
All officers and employees are subject to and shall comply with the Policy.
The Policy also applies to County vendors and suppliers and their agents,
as well as non-employees who use County programs and services, and
other persons who interact with County employees in the performance of
their job duties.
The Policy also applies when conduct it prohibits occurs outside of the
workplace or work hours and negatively impacts the workplace.
Policy Statement
The County of Hawai‘i (“County”) is an Equal Opportunity Provider and
Employer. The County is committed to a policy of non-discrimination. The
County affirms the right of all employees to work in an environment that is
free of harassment, intimidation, and bias.
The County also affirms the right of all other persons to be free from
harassment and discrimination when receiving services from the County,
participating in County programs, and using County facilities.
The County prohibits discrimination and harassment of any employee, job
applicant, or non-employee by any manager, supervisor, employee,
customer, vendor, supplier, or agent on the basis of sex, pregnancy,
lactation (breastfeeding), race, ancestry, color, national origin, religion,
disability, genetic information, age, marital status, familial status, military
service, veteran's status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender
expression, victim of domestic or sexual violence status (including those
who have a minor child who is a victim of domestic or sexual violence),
arrest and court record1, or any other classification protected by state or
federal law.
Retaliation against anyone who files a complaint under the Policy,
participates in an investigation under the Policy, or engages in a
protected activity under federal or state civil rights laws (i.e., requests a
reasonable accommodation or a reasonable modification), is prohibited.
Retaliation occurs when a person who engages in a protected activity is
subject to an adverse action and there is a causal link between the
protected activity and the adverse action.
Employees who violate the Policy will face immediate and appropriate
disciplinary action, up to and including discharge. If applicable, any
disciplinary action shall be based on just and proper cause, and the
collective bargaining agreement of the offending employee.
When non-employees are found to have engaged in harassment of
employees or others using County services or programs, the County shall
take appropriate action to stop the harassment.
The Department of Human Resources is responsible for promulgating and
implementing procedures to enforce this policy.
Other Information
• Discrimination and Harassment
Discrimination is an act which either denies or confers privileges on the
basis of a person’s membership in a "protected class." Decisions
regarding employment, including recruitment, hiring, placement, training,
promotion, compensation, benefits, transfers, layoffs, discipline, discharge,
etc. must be based on valid, non-discriminatory business reasons.
1 Pursuant to state law, the County may consider an individual’s criminal history for
employment purposes under certain circumstances.
2
Employment actions and the terms and conditions of employment must
not be based on sex, pregnancy, lactation (breastfeeding), race,
ancestry, color, national origin, religion, disability, genetic information,
age, marital status, familial status, military service, veteran's status, sexual
orientation, gender identity, gender expression, victim of domestic or
sexual violence status (including those who have a minor child who is a
victim of domestic or sexual violence), arrest and court record, or any
other class protected by state or federal civil rights law.
Similarly, decisions regarding a non-employee’s participation in County
programs, receipt of County services, or access to facilities must not be
based on sex, pregnancy, lactation (breastfeeding), race, ancestry, color,
national origin, religion, disability, genetic information, age, marital status,
military service, veteran's status, sexual orientation, gender identity,
gender expression, victim of domestic or sexual violence status (including
those who have a minor child who is a victim of domestic or sexual
violence), arrest and court record, or any other class protected by state
or federal civil rights law.
• Harassment
Harassment is a course of unwanted conduct, based on a protected
class, which is annoying, humiliating, or hurtful to a person or group of
persons. Harassment is usually behavior that is repeated over time;
however, some acts are so severe in nature that they only need to occur
once or twice to constitute harassment.
• Sexual Harassment
Employees, vendors, suppliers, agents, etc. of the County and non-
employees who direct unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual
favors, or other sexually based conduct towards any employee or non-
employee are engaging in sexual harassment and are in violation of the
Policy.
Sexual harassment also includes, but is not limited to:
unnecessary or unwanted physical contact of a sexual nature such
as patting, pinching, grabbing, rubbing, and intentionally brushing
up against another person’s body;
verbal conduct in oral, written, or electronic format, such as
unwanted sexual advances, propositions, sexually based verbal
abuse, graphic sexual descriptions of a person's body, sexually
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degrading language, communicating jokes with sexual conduct,
remarks of a sexual nature;
non–verbal conduct such as display of sexually suggestive objects,
pictures, or photographs in the workplace in actual or electronic
format, prolonged staring at a person's body or body parts, wolf
whistles, and sexual gestures.
Inappropriate sexual conduct becomes sexual harassment when:
it is unwelcome and interferes with a person’s work environment or
use of County services, programs or facilities;
it creates a hostile environment for employees or non-employees;
an employee's submission to or rejection of a manager or
supervisor’s sexual advance is a basis for personnel decisions
(discharge, disciplinary action, demotion, promotion, etc.)
submission to a sexual advance is a condition for keeping a job or
other benefit, whether expressed directly or implied; and
a non-employee’s submission to or rejection of a County
employee’s sexual advance is a basis for decisions regarding use of
County services, programs, or facilities.
Sexual harassment may occur between persons of the opposite sex or the
same sex.
• Unwelcome Conduct
Conduct is considered unwelcome when a reasonable person, who
experiences the conduct, believes it to be offensive. In determining
whether the alleged conduct constitutes sexual harassment, an officer,
employee, investigator, or team investigating a complaint of harassment
shall use the “reasonable person of the same gender standard.” Under
the standard, sexual harassment shall be deemed to have occurred if the
alleged offender’s conduct would be considered sexual harassment from
the perspective of a reasonable person of the victim’s gender.
Conduct is also considered unwelcome when the recipient tells the
offender, either directly or indirectly, that such conduct is unwelcome.
The intended recipient or an unintended bystander who witnesses the
conduct may file a complaint of harassment.
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• Other Forms of Harassment
In addition to sexual harassment, the Policy also prohibits harassment of
any employee, or non-employee on the basis of pregnancy, lactation
(breastfeeding), race, ancestry, color, national origin, disability, genetic
information, age, marital status, familial status, military service, veteran’s
status, sexual orientation, gender identity, gender expression, domestic or
sexual violence status (including those who have a minor child who is a
victim of domestic or sexual violence), arrest and court record, and any
other classification protected by state or federal civil rights law.
The County prohibits comments or conduct, which denigrate, mock, or
otherwise insult a person or group of persons on any of the protected
classes contained herein. This includes jokes, slurs, graphic images or
other offensive commentary in written, verbal, or electronic formats.
In addition, the Policy prohibits conduct which directly or indirectly alters
the terms and conditions of employment or provision of County services
based upon a person’s participation in conduct related to a protected
category. Examples of this include, but are not limited to, a supervisor
pressuring a gay employee to attend a religious service or socialize with
members of the opposite sex, an employee refusing to speak to a co-
worker with a different (or no) religious affiliation, or employees making fun
of a non-employee with an intellectual disability.
• Harassment in Electronic Formats
The County prohibits harassment in electronic formats which violate the
Policy.
Harassment in electronic formats includes, but is not limited to, offensive
commentary using e-mails, text messages, social networking, and
microblogging sites, in addition to accessing and displaying websites with
content that violates this policy.
Employees may be found to have engaged in harassment if they e-mail,
text, or post content which violates the Policy on social networking or
microblogging sites using personal equipment, outside of work, and while
they are off duty.
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Complaint and Investigation Procedures
Anyone who has been the recipient of conduct prohibited by the Policy,
or who has witnessed another person receive such conduct must report
the matter immediately to a supervisor, department head, or the Equal
Opportunity Officer (EOO) in the Department of Human Resources.
All complaints which allege discrimination and harassment which violate
the Policy are serious and must be investigated immediately. Depending
upon the complaint allegations, the investigation will be conducted by
the department head, the department head's designate, the employee’s
supervisor, or the County’s Equal Opportunity Officer. If, after
investigation, the complaint is found to have merit, appropriate
disciplinary action, up to and including discharge, shall be taken against
the offender. If applicable, the disciplinary action shall be taken pursuant
to the collective bargaining agreement of the offending employee. If the
offending employee is not covered by a collective bargaining
agreement, discipline shall be taken for just and proper cause.
• Informal Complaints
Employees may file informal complaints with their supervisors. Supervisors
shall meet with the employee to ascertain the details of the complaint
within two calendar days of receipt of an informal complaint. Within
seven calendar days of receipt of an informal complaint, supervisors shall
document the meeting and whatever other interviews may be necessary
to investigate the complaint allegations. Within ten calendar days of
receipt of an informal complaint, supervisors must meet with the
complainant to discuss whatever steps were taken to correct the situation
and document the meeting.
If the subject matter of the complaint alleges offensive conduct that is
severe and pervasive, the supervisor shall treat the complaint as formal
and submit it to the department head for investigation and follow up. In
such cases, the EOO shall be notified.
• Formal Complaints
Generally, formal complaints shall be filed in writing using the
Discrimination/Harassment Complaint Form (DHR Form EO 001).
Any non-employee who has been the recipient of conduct that violates
the Policy by an employee, agent or non-employee may file a complaint
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with the department head of the offending employee’s or the program
activity’s department. The complaint shall be filed using DHR
Form EO 001.
Complaints may be filed with the EOO who will review the allegations to
determine the appropriate venue for processing of the complaint. The
EOO may initiate an investigation, forward the complaint to the
department head for investigation, or return the complaint to the
complainant if the allegations do not fall within the scope of the Policy.
Depending upon the subject matter, complaints alleging violation of state
or federal law may be filed with the Hawai‘i Civil Rights Commission
(HCRC), the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) or
other federal agency having jurisdiction over the subject matter. These
agencies may be contacted directly for information about their
complaint filing procedures.
Requests for Reasonable Accommodation
Employees who wish to request reasonable accommodation on the basis
of disability shall follow the Procedures for Providing Reasonable
Accommodation for Individuals with Disabilities.
Employees may also request reasonable accommodations on the basis of
pregnancy, lactation, religion, gender identity, gender expression, and
domestic or sexual violence victim status. Employees wishing to request
accommodations of this type may obtain more information from their
department’s Human Resources Representative or the Equal Opportunity
Officer in the Department of Human Resources.
• Confidentiality
The County is required to take action when it receives a complaint about
harassment or discrimination that allegedly violates the Policy.
Dissemination of information related to a complaint or investigation shall
be on a need-to-know basis.
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