Washington Administrative Code › Title 132U - Whatcom Community College › Chapter 132U-300 - Discrimination and harassment › Section 132U-300-050 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
Complainant:
Employee(s), applicant(s),
				student(s), or visitor(s) of Whatcom 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.
Harassment:
A form of discrimination consisting of
				physical or verbal conduct that denigrates or shows hostility toward
				individuals 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 and/or student housing. 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, emailing, 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.
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 the 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
				discipline.
Respondent:
Person or persons who are members of
				the campus community who allegedly discriminated against or harassed another
				person or persons.
Retaliation:
Harming, threatening, intimidating,
				coercing, or taking adverse action of any kind against a person because the
				person reported an alleged violation of this policy or other college policy,
				provided information about an alleged violation, or participated as a witness
				or in any other capacity in an investigation or disciplinary proceeding.
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 and/or student housing.
(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) An instructor who
			 promises a student a better grade in exchange for sexual favors;
(iv) Sexually explicit statements, questions,
			 jokes, 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, emails, texts,
			 telephone calls, or other communications referring to or depicting sexual
			 activities.