Policy Statements

Relevant excerpt

Sexual Harassment. Sexual harassment is unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other physical, visual, or verbal behavior of a sexual nature where:

• Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment or education; or
• Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as the basis for employment or academic decisions affecting the individual; or
• Such conduct has the purpose or effect of:
  • Unreasonably interfering with an individual’s academic or professional performance; or
  • Creating an intimidating, hostile, or demeaning employment or educational environment.

To determine whether a hostile environment exists, the conduct will be evaluated from the perspective of a reasonable person in the alleged victim’s position, considering all of the circumstances. A single isolated incident of sexual harassment may create a hostile environment if the incident is sufficiently severe. The more severe the conduct, the less need to show a repetitive series of incidents to provide a hostile environment, particularly if the harassment is physical.

Sexual harassment includes, but is not limited to, the following examples:

• Repeated sexual remarks, offensive stories, remarks about sexual activity or experiences, sexual innuendoes or other suggestive comments that are unwanted and unwelcome by another;
• Displaying or showing pictures, cartoons, or other printed materials of a sexual nature in the workplace or in an educational setting where there is insufficient academic relevance;
• Exposing the private parts of one’s body to another person;
• Unwelcome pressure for a dating, romantic, or intimate relationship;
• Unwelcome touching, kissing, hugging, or massaging;
• Obscene gestures;
• Sexual graffiti, pictures, or posters;
• Sexually explicit profanity.

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