5135:  Employee Sexual Harassment

Personnel/General

It is the policy of the South Kingstown School Department (“School”) to maintain an environment that is entirely free of sexual harassment in any form.  Supervisors and managers and all other employees are absolutely prohibited from engaging in sexual harassment of students, other employees, visitors, and all members of our community.  Sexual harassment is unlawful.    Because sexual harassment can be destructive to employee morale as well as to the School’s reputation and because it can be extremely costly to the School, no act of sexual harassment can serve the School or be incidental to any service for which any employee has been employed.  Thus, any act or pattern of sexual harassment by any employee of the School is beyond the scope of his or her authority as an employee, agent, supervisor or servant of the School and will subject the employee to discipline up to and including the termination of employment.

The School will administer all provisions of this policy without regard to race, color, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identification, age, national origin, handicap, current or former military status, or disabled veteran status.

Scope

This policy applies to all employees of the School Department.

Responsibility

The Superintendent has overall responsibility for this policy.

Administrators are responsible for the implementation and daily administration of this policy.

Supervisory employees at all levels are responsible for implementing and enforcing this policy, and for assisting in investigating and processing employee complaints with the utmost priority and consideration for the rights of all concerned.

Every employee is responsible for reporting to his/her supervisor any incident of sexual harassment that he/she witnesses or learns of.  The School will maintain the highest degree of confidentiality possible with respect to such reports, consistent with its obligations to investigate thoroughly all such reports.

Definition and Examples of Sexual Harassment

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature constitute unlawful sexual harassment when:

Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment;

Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment decisions affecting such individual;

Such conduct has the purpose or effect of interfering with an individual’s work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive working environment.

Some examples of employee conduct towards other employees which constitute unlawful sexual harassment, and are therefore prohibited by this policy, include:

Physical assaults of a sexual nature, such as:

Assault, rape, sexual battery, molestation or threats or attempts to commit these acts; or

2)      Unwelcome intentional physical conduct, or threats of such conduct, which is sexual in nature, such as touching, pinching, patting, grabbing, brushing against another person’s body, or poking another person’s body.

Unwanted sexual advances, propositions or other sexual comments, such as:

Sexually-oriented gestures, noises, remarks, jokes or comments about a person’s sexuality or sexual experience;

Giving rewards or promises of rewards for submitting to sexual conduct, or reprisals or threats of reprisal for refusal to submit to sexual conduct;

Sexual or discriminating displays in the workplace such as:

Displaying or otherwise publicizing in the School environment materials that are sexually revealing, suggestive, demeaning or pornographic; or

Displaying signs or other materials purporting to segregate an employee by sex in any area of the workplace (other than restrooms and similar semi-private lockers/changing rooms).

Retaliation against an employee for making a complaint under this policy or for assisting or cooperating in an investigation of a complaint under this policy;

Failure to cooperate fully with investigation of harassment complaints.

Issuance and Circulation of Policy Statement

The Principals are responsible for publicizing this policy to all employees by inclusion in the School’s Handbooks.

The Principals or their designee are responsible for developing a bulletin board notice to all employees for posting at the time that the School adopts this policy.  The notice will emphasize the importance of the policy to the School, the obligation of every employee to report any incident of sexual harassment, the availability of supervisors and administrative staff to receive such reports and the confidentiality with which these reports will be treated.

A copy of the Policy will be given to all employees and new employees will be given a copy upon hire.  Employees will provide written acknowledgment that they have received a copy.

Employee Report and Investigation Procedure

Employees may report sexual harassment to their supervisor or manager, or directly to the Director of Administration, or, if they are involved in the allegation of sexual harassment, to the Superintendent at the district office, 792-7681.

The supervisor or manager will promptly inform the Director of Administration, or, if they are involved in the allegation of sexual harassment, to the Superintendent.

The supervisor or his/her designee will thoroughly investigate the report of sexual harassment as promptly as possible, keeping the matter as confidential as is practicable.  After investigation, he/she will take whatever action is necessary to remedy any harm done by a proven instance of sexual harassment and the complaining employee will be notified of the action taken.  If, after investigation, the supervisor or his/her designee is unable to establish that any act of sexual harassment has occurred, he/she will meet with the complaining employee(s) and with the complained-against employee(s) individually to explain both the results of the investigation.

It is the responsibility of every employee to cooperate fully with any investigation under this policy.

Statement of Range of Consequences

Sexual Harassment

Employees are subject to discipline, up to and including discharge, for any act of sexual harassment which is proven to the satisfaction of the School.

The appropriate measure of discipline will be determined on the basis of the School’s assessment of the nature and severity of the misconduct, along with any other relevant factors.

Retaliation

It is unlawful to retaliate in any way against an individual who has complained of sexual harassment or cooperated in an investigation of a complaint of sexual harassment.  An employee may be disciplined, up to and including discharge, for any such act of retaliation.  The appropriate measure of discipline will be determined on the basis of the School’s assessment of the nature and extent of the retaliation and any other relevant factors brought to the attention of the School.

Enforcement Agencies

        State and federal employment discrimination agencies are:

The Rhode Island Commission for Human Rights, which may be contacted at 10 Abbott Park Place, Providence, RI 02903; and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which may be contacted at the Boston Area Office, 475 JFK Building, Government Center, Boston, MA 02203.

First Reading: January 10, 2006

Approved: January 24, 2006