New Jersey Administrative Code › Title 13 - LAW AND PUBLIC SAFETY › Chapter 33 - STATE BOARD OF OPHTHALMIC DISPENSERS AND OPHTHALMIC TECHNICIANS › Subchapter 8 - GENERAL PROVISIONS › Section 13:33-8.7 - Sexual misconduct

Current through Register Vol. 56, No. 14, July 15, 2024
(a) The purpose of this section is to identify for licensees conduct which the Board of Ophthalmic Dispenser and Technicians deems sexual misconduct.
(b) As used in this section, the following terms have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
"Licensee" means any person licensed by or registered with the Board of Ophthalmic Dispenser and Technicians.
"Patient" means any person who is the recipient of a professional service rendered by a licensee for purposes of obtaining contact lenses, eyeglasses or a consultation relating to ophthalmic services. "Patient" for purposes of this section also means a person who is the subject of professional evaluations.
"Patient-practitioner relationship" means an association between a practitioner and patient wherein the practitioner owes a continuing duty to the patient to be available to render professional services consistent with his or her training and experience and the performance of any professional ophthalmic service including, but not limited to, the interpretation of a prescription, taking facial and visual measurements, final fitting and adjusting of the finished product.
"Sexual contact" means the knowing touching of a person's body directly or through clothing, where the circumstances surrounding the touching would be construed by a reasonable person to be motivated by the licensee's own prurient interest or for sexual arousal or gratification.
"Sexual contact" includes, but is not limited to, the imposition of a part of the licensee's body upon a part of the patient's body, sexual penetration, or the insertion or imposition of any object or any part of a licensee or patient's body into or near the genital, anal or other opening of the other person's body.
"Sexual harassment" means solicitation of any sexual act, physical advances, or verbal or non-verbal conduct that is sexual in nature, and which occurs in connection with a licensee's activities or role as a provider of ophthalmic services, and that either: is unwelcome, offensive to a reasonable person, or creates a hostile workplace environment, and the licensee knows, should know or is told this; or is sufficiently severe or intense to be abusive to a reasonable person in that context. "Sexual harassment" may consist of a single extreme or severe act or of multiple acts and may include, but is not limited to, conduct of a licensee with a patient, co-worker, employee, student or supervisee whether or not such individual is in a subordinate position to the licensee. "Sexual harassment" may also include conduct of a nonsexual nature if it is based on the sex of an individual.
"Spouse" means the husband, wife, fiance or fiancee of the licensee or an individual in a long-term committed relationship with the licensee. For the purposes of the definition of "spouse" a long term committed relationship means a relationship which is at least six months in duration.
(c) A licensee shall not engage in sexual contact with a patient with whom the licensee has a patient-practitioner relationship. The patient-practitioner relationship is considered ongoing for purposes of this section, unless:
1. Terminated by way of written notice to the patient and documented in the patient record; or
2. The last professional service rendered by the practitioner to the patient was more than six months ago.