Loretta Middleton, Senior Director

1
Q A About Sexual Harassment

• Presented by
• Loretta Middleton, Senior Director
• Pupil Services Department
• San Diego County Office of Education

Pupil Services
Revised 2/05
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QA About Sexual Harassment

• What is Sexual Harassment?
• The California Education Code defines sexual
  harassment as follows (212.5) Sexual
  harassment means unwelcome sexual advances,
  requests for sexual favors, and other verbal,
  visual, or physical conduct of a sexual nature,
  made by someone from or in the work or
  educational setting, under any of the following
  conditions

3
QA About Sexual Harassment

• What is Sexual Harassment?
• (a) Submission to the conduct is explicitly or
  implicitly made a term or a condition of an
  individuals employment, academic status, or
  progress.

4
QA About Sexual Harassment

• What is Sexual Harassment?
• (b) Submission to, or rejection of, the conduct
  by the individual is used as the basis of
  employment or academic decisions affecting the
  individual.

5
QA About Sexual Harassment

• What is Sexual Harassment?
• (c) The conduct has the purpose or effect of
  having a negative impact upon the individuals
  work or academic performance, or of creating and
  intimidating, hostile, or offensive work or
  educational environment.

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QA About Sexual Harassment

• What is Sexual Harassment?
• (d) Submission to, or rejection of, the conduct
  by the individual is used as the basis for any
  decisions affecting the individual regarding
  benefits and services, honors, programs, or
  activities available at or through the
  educational institution.

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QA About Sexual Harassment

• What is Sexual Harassment?
• A form of sex discrimination
• A violation of Title VII ofthe Civil Rights Act
  of 1964
• Two types of sexual harassment
• quid pro quo
• hostile environment or offensive
  work/educational

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Q A About Sexual Harassment

• What is "Quid Pro Quo" Sexual Harassment?
• Unwelcome sexual advances
• Requests for sexual favors
• Other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual
  nature

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Q A About Sexual Harassment

• What is "Quid Pro Quo" Sexual Harassment?
  (continued)
• Submission to such conduct is made either
  explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of
  an individual's employment, grades or other
  evaluation

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Q A About Sexual Harassment

• What is "Quid Pro Quo" Sexual Harassment?
  (continued)
• Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an
  individual is sued as the basis for employment or
  grading decisions affecting such individual.

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Q A About Sexual Harassment

• What is "Hostile Environment" Sexual Harassment?
• Unwelcome sexual advances (even though not
  necessarily expressed verbally)
• Requests for sexual favors
• Other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual
  nature

12
Q A About Sexual Harassment

• What is "Hostile Environment" Sexual Harassment?
• When such conduct has the purpose or effect of
  unreasonably interfering with an individual's
  work orlearning performance

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Q A About Sexual Harassment

• What is "Hostile Environment" Sexual Harassment?
  (continued)
• Creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive
  working or educational environment

14
Q A About Sexual Harassment

• What Factors Determine Whether an Environment is
  "Hostile?
• The central inquiry is whether the conduct
  unreasonably interfered with an individual's
  work or learning performance
• Created an intimidating, hostile, or offensive
  working or learning environment

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Q A About Sexual Harassment

• What Factors Determine Whether an Environment is
  "Hostile?
• The following factors to determine whether an
  environment is hostile
• whether the conduct was verbal or physical or
  both
• how frequently it was repeated

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Q A About Sexual Harassment

• What Factors Determine Whether an Environment is
  "Hostile?
• The following factors to determine whether an
  environment is hostile (continued)
• whether the conduct was hostile or offensive
• whether the alleged harasser was a co-worker,
  supervisor, instructor, classified employee, or
  administrator (although of course it can be a
  student)

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Q A About Sexual Harassment

• What Factors Determine Whether an Environment is
  "Hostile?
• The following factors to determine whether an
  environment is hostile (continued)
• whether others joined in perpetrating the
  harassment and
• whether the harassment was directed at more than
  one individual

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Q A About Sexual Harassment

• What Factors Determine Whether an Environment is
  "Hostile?
• No one factor controls the determination
• An assessment is made based upon the totality of
  the circumstances

19
Q A About Sexual Harassment

• What is Unwelcome Sexual Conduct?
• The challenged conduct must be unwelcome in the
  sense that the victim did not solicit or incite
  it and the sense that the victim regarded the
  conduct as undesirable or offensive. (This
  differs of course where students are concerned.)

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Q A About Sexual Harassment

• This differs however in an adult to student
  (minor) situation
• When student to adult is involved it is not
  necessary to make this determination

21
Q A About Sexual Harassment

• Although it may not be sexual harassment some
  comments or gestures are TOTALLY inappropriate
  for an adult professional to make to students
  (minors)

22
Q A About Sexual Harassment

• Who Can Be a Victim of Sexual Harassment?
• The victim may be a female or a male
• The victim does not have to be of the opposite
  sex
• The victim does not have to be the person
  harassed but could be anyone affected by the
  offensive conduct

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Q A About Sexual Harassment

• Who Can Be a Sexual Harasser?
• The harasser may be a female or a male
• He or she can be thevictim's supervisor,
  anagent of the employer, asupervisor in
  anotherarea, a co-worker, anon employee

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Q A About Sexual Harassment

• In the case of schools, he or she can be an
  administrator, teacher, counselor, school
  psychologist, or other certificated employee, any
  classified employee as well as a student.