Management Determining Workplace Harassment

DETERMINING IF CONDUCT IS HARASSMENT ____ 1. Harassment is discrimination. Harassment in the basis of race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age or disability constitutes discrimination in the terms, conditions and privileges of employment and, as such, violates federal law. ____ 2. Harassment defined. Harassment is verbal or physical conduct that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual because of the individual’s race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age or disability, or that of the individual’s relatives, friends or associates and that has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment; has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance; or otherwise adversely affects an individual’s employment opportunities. ____ 3. Examples of harassing conduct. Epithets Slurs Negative stereotyping Threatening, intimidating or hostile acts relating to: race color religion gender national origin age disability Written or graphic material that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual or group based on: race color religion gender national origin age disability that is placed on walls, bulletin boards or elsewhere on the premises or circulated in the workplace. ____ 4. Standard for determining harassment.

____ a. Whether a reasonable person in the same or similar circumstances would find the conduct intimidating, hostile or abusive. ____ ____ ____

The standard includes consideration of the perspective of persons of the alleged victim’s race, color, religion, gender, national origin, age or disability. It is not necessary to make an additional showing of psychological harm. Complaining employee(s) need not be specifically intended targets of the conduct.

____ 5. Employer’s duty. ____ a. An employer has an affirmative duty to maintain a working environment that is free of harassment on any of the listed bases. ____ b. Prevention is the best tool for eliminating harassment.