Washington Administrative Code › Title 132V - Tacoma Community College › Chapter 132V-305 - Nondiscrimination and harassment policy and grievance procedure › POLICY › Section 132V-305-030 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
The following definitions are specific to the terms of this
				  procedure and do not modify or revise similar terms as used in related
				  procedures or collective bargaining agreements.
Advisor:
A person of the complainant or
				  respondent's choosing who can accompany the complainant or respondent to any
				  related meeting or proceeding.
College:
Tacoma Community College main campus
				  and any other campus or college facility which may be created by the board of
				  trustees.
College employee:
any person employed by the
				  college performing assigned administrative or professional
				  responsibilities.
Complainant:
Employee(s), applicant(s),
				  student(s), or visitors(s) of Tacoma Community College who alleges that she or
				  he has been subjected to discrimination or harassment due to his or her
				  membership in a protected class.
Complaint:
A description of facts that allege
				  violation of the college's policy against discrimination or harassment.
Consent:
Knowing, voluntary and clear permission
				  by word or action, to engage in mutually agreed upon sexual activity. Each
				  party has the responsibility to make certain that the other has consented
				  before engaging in the activity. For consent to be valid, there must be at the
				  time of the act of sexual intercourse or sexual contact actual words or conduct
				  indicating freely given agreement to have sexual intercourse or sexual
				  contact.
A person cannot consent if he or she is unable to understand
				  what is happening or is disoriented, helpless, asleep or unconscious for any
				  reason, including due to alcohol or other drugs. An individual who engages in
				  sexual activity when the individual knows, or should know, that the other
				  person is physically or mentally incapacitated has engaged in nonconsensual
				  conduct.
Intoxication is not a defense against allegations that an
				  individual has engaged in nonconsensual sexual conduct.
Discrimination:
Unfavorable treatment of a
				  person based on that person's membership or perceived membership in a protected
				  class. Harassment is a form of discrimination.
Force:
Use of physical violence and/or imposing
				  on someone physically to gain sexual access. Force also includes threats,
				  intimidation and coercion that overcome resistance or produce consent. Sexual
				  activity that is forced is by definition nonconsensual, but nonconsensual
				  sexual activity is not by definition forced.
Harassment:
A form of discrimination consisting
				  of physical or verbal conduct that denigrates or shows hostility toward an
				  individual because of their membership in a protected class or their perceived
				  membership in a protected class. Harassment occurs when the conduct is
				  sufficiently severe and/or pervasive and so objectively offensive that it has
				  the effect of altering the terms or conditions of employment or substantially
				  limiting the ability of a student to participate in or benefit from the
				  college's educational and/or social programs. Petty slights, annoyances,
				  offensive utterances, and isolated incidents (unless extremely serious)
				  typically do not qualify as harassment. Examples of conduct that could rise to
				  the level of discriminatory harassment include, but are not limited to, the
				  following:
(a) Epithets, "jokes," ridicule, mockery or other offensive
				  or derogatory conduct focused upon an individual's membership in a protected
				  class.
(b) Verbal or physical threats of violence or physical
				  contact directed towards an individual based upon their membership in a
				  protected class.
(c) Making, posting, e-mailing, texting, or otherwise
				  circulating demeaning or offensive pictures, cartoons, graffiti, notes or other
				  materials that relate to race, ethnic origin, gender or any other protected
				  class.
Hazing:
Any method of initiation into a student
				  group or any pastime or amusement engaged in with respect to such a group that
				  causes, or is likely to cause, bodily danger or physical harm, or serious
				  mental or emotional harm, to any student or other person attending any
				  institution of higher education or postsecondary education. Excluded from this
				  definition are "customary athletic events or other similar contests or
				  competitions."
Hostile environment:
Any situation in which
				  there is harassing conduct that is based on protected class status and is
				  sufficiently severe and/or pervasive and so objectively offensive that it has
				  the effect of altering the terms or conditions of employment or substantially
				  limiting the ability of a student to participate in or benefit from the
				  college's educational or social programs.
The determination of whether an environment is "hostile" must
				  be based on all of the circumstances. These circumstances could include:
(a) The frequency of the conduct;
(b) The nature and severity of the conduct;
(c) Whether the conduct was physically threatening;
(d) Whether the conduct was directed at more than one
				  person;
(e) Whether the conduct arose in the context of other
				  discriminatory conduct;
(f) Whether the statement is a mere utterance of an epithet
				  which engenders offense in an employee or student, or offends by mere
				  discourtesy or rudeness;
(g) Whether the speech or conduct deserves protections of
				  academic freedom or the first amendment.
Protected class:
Persons who are protected under
				  state or federal civil rights laws, including laws that prohibit discrimination
				  on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, perceived or actual physical
				  or mental disability, pregnancy, genetic information, sex, sexual orientation,
				  gender identity, marital status, creed, religion, honorably discharged veteran
				  or military status, or use of a trained guide dog or service
				  animal
.
Resolution:
The means by which the complaint is
				  finally addressed. This may be accomplished through informal or formal
				  processes, including counseling, mediation, or the formal imposition of
				  disciplinary sanction.
Respondent:
Person or persons who are members of
				  the campus community who allegedly discriminated against or harassed another
				  person or persons.
Sexual exploitation:
Occurs when one person
				  takes nonconsensual or abusive sexual advantage of another for his/her own
				  advantage or benefit, or to benefit or advantage anyone other than the one
				  being exploited, and that behavior does not otherwise constitute one of the
				  other sexual misconduct offenses. Examples of sexual exploitation include, but
				  are not limited to: Invasion of sexual privacy, engaging in voyeurism,
				  nonconsensual video or audio taping of sexual activity; sexually based stalking
				  and/or bullying may also be forms of sexual exploitation.
Sexual harassment:
A form of discrimination
				  consisting of unwelcome, gender-based verbal, written, electronic and/or
				  physical conduct. Sexual harassment does not have to be of a sexual nature,
				  however, and can include offensive remarks about a person's gender. There are
				  two types of sexual harassment.
(a)
Hostile environment sexual harassment
occurs
				  when the conduct is sufficiently severe and/or pervasive and so objectively
				  offensive that it has the effect of altering the terms or conditions of
				  employment or substantially limiting the ability of a student to participate in
				  or benefit from the college's educational and/or social programs.
(b)
Quid pro quo sexual harassment
occurs when an
				  individual in a position of real or perceived authority, conditions the receipt
				  of a benefit upon granting of sexual favors. Examples of conduct that may
				  qualify as sexual harassment include:
(i) Persistent comments or questions of a sexual
				  nature;
(ii) A supervisor who gives an employee a raise in exchange
				  for submitting to sexual advances;
(iii) A professor who promises a student a better grade in
				  exchange for sexual favors;
(iv) Sexually explicit statements, questions, jokes, photos,
				  or anecdotes;
(v) Unwelcome touching, patting, hugging, kissing, or
				  brushing against an individual's body;
(vi) Remarks of a sexual nature about an individual's
				  clothing, body, or speculations about previous sexual experiences;
(vii) Persistent, unwanted attempts to change a professional
				  relationship to an amorous relationship;
(viii) Direct or indirect propositions for sexual
				  activity;
(ix) Unwelcome letters, e-mails, texts, telephone calls, or
				  other communications referring to or depicting sexual activities.
Sexual violence:
Is a type of sexual
				  discrimination and harassment. Nonconsensual sexual intercourse, nonconsensual
				  sexual contact, domestic violence, dating violence, and stalking are all types
				  of sexual violence.
(a)
Nonconsensual sexual intercourse
is any
				  sexual intercourse (anal, oral, or vaginal), however slight, with any object,
				  by a person upon another person, that is without consent and/or by force.
				  Sexual intercourse includes anal or vaginal penetration by a penis, tongue,
				  finger, or object, or oral copulation by mouth to genital contact or genital to
				  mouth contact.
(b)
Nonconsensual sexual contact
is any
				  intentional sexual touching, however slight, with any object, by a person upon
				  another person that is without consent and/or by force. Sexual touching
				  includes any bodily contact with the breasts, groin, mouth, or other bodily
				  orifice of another individual, or any other bodily contact in a sexual
				  manner.
(c)
Domestic violence
includes asserted violent
				  misdemeanor and felony offenses committed by the victim's current or former
				  spouse, current or former cohabitant, person similarly situated under domestic
				  or family violence law, or anyone else protected under domestic or family
				  violence law.
(d)
Dating violence
means violence by a person
				  who has been in a romantic or intimate relationship with the victim. Whether
				  there was such relationship will be gauged by its length, type, and frequency
				  of interaction.
(e)
Stalking
means intentional and repeated
				  harassment or following of another person, which places that person in
				  reasonable fear that the perpetrator intends to injure, intimidate, or harass
				  that person. Stalking also includes instances where the perpetrator knows or
				  reasonably should know that the person is frightened, intimidated, or harassed,
				  even if the perpetrator lacks such intent.
Working day:
Any day on which the college is
				  open and can conduct legal business; typically excludes Saturdays, Sundays, and
				  legal holidays.