This administrative regulation shall apply to all allegations of sexual harassment involving employees, interns, volunteers, and job applicants, but shall not be used to resolve any complaint by or against a student.
Definitions
Prohibited sexual harassment includes, but is not limited to, unwelcome sexual advances, unwanted requests for sexual favors, or other unwanted verbal, visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature made against another person of the same or opposite sex in the work or educational setting when: (Education Code 212.5; Government Code 12940; 2 CCR 11034)
1. Submission to the conduct is made explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of the individual's employment.
2. Submission to or rejection of the conduct is used as the basis for an employment decision affecting the individual.
3. Submission to or rejection of the conduct is used as the basis for any decision affecting the individual regarding benefits, services, honors, programs, or activities available at or through the county office of education (COE).
Prohibited sexual harassment also includes conduct which, regardless of whether or not it is motivated by sexual desire, is so severe or pervasive as to unreasonably interfere with the victim's work performance or create an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.
Examples of actions that might constitute sexual harassment in the work or educational setting, whether committed by a supervisor, a co-worker, or a non-employee, include, but are not limited to:
1. Unwelcome verbal conduct such as sexual flirtations or propositions; graphic comments about an individual's body; overly personal conversations or pressure for sexual activity; sexual jokes or stories; unwelcome sexual slurs, epithets, threats, innuendoes, derogatory comments, sexually degrading descriptions, or the spreading of sexual rumors
2. Unwelcome visual conduct such as drawings, pictures, graffiti, or gestures; sexually explicit emails; displaying sexually suggestive objects
3. Unwelcome physical conduct such as massaging, grabbing, fondling, stroking, or brushing the body; touching an individual's body or clothes in a sexual way; cornering, blocking, leaning over, or impeding normal movements
Training
The County Superintendent or designee shall ensure that all employees receive training regarding the COE's sexual harassment policies when hired and periodically thereafter. The training shall include the procedures for reporting and/or filing complaints involving an employee, employees' duty to use the COE's complaint procedures, and employee obligations when a sexual harassment report involving a student is made to the employee.
(cf. 1312.3 - Uniform Complaint Procedures)
(cf. 4030 - Nondiscrimination in Employment)
(cf. 5145.7 - Sexual Harassment)
Every two years, the County Superintendent or designee shall ensure that supervisory employees receive at least two hours of classroom or other effective interactive training and education regarding sexual harassment. All such newly hired or promoted employees shall receive training within six months of their assumption of the new position. (Government Code 12950.1)
A supervisory employee is any employee having the authority, in the interest of the COE, to hire, transfer, suspend, lay off, promote, discharge, assign, reward, or discipline other employees, or the responsibility to direct them, adjust their grievances, or effectively recommend such action, when the exercise of the authority is not of a merely routine or clerical nature, but requires the use of independent judgment. (Government Code 12926)
(cf. 4300 - Administrative and Supervisory Personnel)
The COE's sexual harassment training and education program for supervisory employees shall be aimed at assisting them in preventing and effectively responding to incidents of sexual harassment, as well as implementing mechanisms to promptly address and correct wrongful behavior. The training shall include, but is not limited to, the following: (Government Code 12950.1; 2 CCR 11024)
1. Information and practical guidance regarding federal and state laws on the prohibition, prevention, and correction of sexual harassment, the remedies available to sexual harassment victims in civil actions, and potential COE and/or individual exposure or liability
2. The types of conduct that constitute sexual harassment and practical examples which illustrate sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation using training modalities such as role plays, case studies, and group discussions, based on factual scenarios taken from case law, news and media accounts, and hypotheticals based on workplace situations and other sources
3. A supervisor's obligation to report sexual harassment, discrimination, and retaliation of which he/she becomes aware and what to do if the supervisor himself/herself is personally accused of harassment
4. Strategies for preventing harassment, discrimination, and retaliation and appropriate steps to ensure that remedial measures are taken to correct harassing behavior, including an effective process for investigation of a complaint
5. The essential elements of the COE's anti-harassment policy, including the limited confidentiality of the complaint process and resources for victims of unlawful sexual harassment, such as to whom they should report any alleged sexual harassment, and how to use the policy if a harassment complaint is filed
6. A copy of the COE's sexual harassment policy and administrative regulation, which each participant shall acknowledge in writing that he/she has received
7. The definition and prevention of abusive conduct that addresses the use of derogatory remarks, insults, or epithets, other verbal or physical conduct that a reasonable person would find threatening, intimidating, or humiliating, and the gratuitous sabotage or undermining of a person's work performance
The County Superintendent or designee shall retain for at least two years the records of any training provided to supervisory employees. Such records shall include the names of trained employees, date of the training, the type of training, and the name of the training provider. (2 CCR 11024)
Notifications
A copy of the County Superintendent's policy and this administrative regulation shall: (Education Code 231.5)
1. Be displayed in a prominent location in the main administrative building, COE office, or other area of the school where notices of COE rules, regulations, procedures, and standards of conduct are posted
2. Be provided to every COE employee at the beginning of the first quarter or semester of the school year or whenever a new employee is hired
(cf. 4112.9/4212.9/4312.9 - Employee Notifications)
3. Appear in any school or COE publication that sets forth the school's or COE's comprehensive rules, regulations, procedures, and standards of conduct
All employees shall receive either a copy of information sheets prepared by the California Department of Fair Employment and Housing (DFEH) or a copy of COE information sheets that contain, at a minimum, components on: (Government Code 12950)
1. The illegality of sexual harassment
2. The definition of sexual harassment under applicable state and federal law
3. A description of sexual harassment, with examples
4. The COE's complaint process available to the employee
5. The legal remedies and complaint process available through DFEH and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
6. Directions on how to contact DFEH and the EEOC
7. The protection against retaliation provided by 2 CCR 11021 for opposing harassment prohibited by law or for filing a complaint with or otherwise participating in an investigation, proceeding, or hearing conducted by DFEH and the EEOC
In addition, the COE shall post, in a prominent and accessible location, DFEH's poster on discrimination in employment and the illegality of sexual harassment. (Government Code 12950)
Regulation INYO COUNTY OFFICE OF EDUCATION
approved: December 6, 2018 Independence, California