Washington Administrative Code › Title 132L - Centralia College › Chapter 132L-300 - Discrimination complaint process › Section 132L-300-015 - Discrimination and harassment procedure

Current through Register Vol. 24-14, July 15, 2024
Any employee, student, or visitor who believes that he or she
				has been the subject of discrimination or harassment should report the incident
				or incidents to the college's Title IX/Equal Opportunity (EO) officer
				identified below. The college encourages the timely reporting of any incidents
				of discrimination or harassment. If the complaint is against that officer, the
				complainant should report the matter to the president's office for referral to
				an alternate designee.
Name: Vice-president of human resources & legal
				affairs, Title IX/EO officer or designee.
Office: Hanson administration building, human resources office
				room 101.
Contact Info: 600 Centralia College Blvd, Centralia, WA 98531;
				phone 360-736-9391, ext. 285.
The Title IX/EO officer, or designee:
* Will accept all complaints and referrals from college
				employees, students, and visitors.
* Will keep accurate records of all complaints and referrals
				for the required time period.
* May conduct investigations or assign and oversee
				investigations conducted by others.
* May impose interim remedial measures to protect parties
				during investigations of discrimination or harassment.
* Will make findings of fact on investigations
				completed.
* May recommend specific corrective measures to stop,
				remediate, and prevent the recurrence of inappropriate action.
The college encourages the timely reporting of any incident of
				discrimination or harassment.
(1)
Definitions.
(a)
Complainant:
Employee(s),
			 applicant(s), student(s), or visitor(s) of the college who allege that she or
			 he has been subjected to discrimination or harassment due to membership in a
			 protected class.
(b)
Complaint:
A description of
			 facts that allege violation of the college's policy against discrimination or
			 harassment. (The college has an official form as part of this
			 procedure.)
(c)
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 noncon-sensual
				conduct.
Intoxication is not a defense against allegations that an
				individual has engaged in nonconsensual sexual conduct.
(d)
Discrimination:
Unfavorable
			 treatment of a person based on that person's membership or perceived membership
			 in a protected class.
(e)
Harassment:
The unwelcome and
			 unauthorized patterns of conduct, based on a person(s) race, color, religious
			 belief, sex, marital status, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression,
			 national origin, disability, veteran status, or age, and which:
(i) The harasser either knows, or should
			 know, will have the effect of making the college environment hostile,
			 intimidating, or demeaning to the victim; and
(ii) In fact, is sufficiently, severe,
			 persistent, or pervasive to substantially deny or limit that person's ability
			 to benefit from or fully participate in educational programs or activities or
			 employment opportunities.
(f)
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.
(g)
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.
(h)
Respondent:
Person or
			 persons who are members of the campus community who allegedly discriminated
			 against or harassed another person or persons.
(i)
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:
(i) 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.
(ii) 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.
(j)
Sexual
			 violence:
Is a type of sexual discrimination and harassment.
			 Nonconsensual sexual intercourse, noncon-sensual sexual contact, domestic
			 violence, dating violence, and stalking are all types of sexual violence.
(i) 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.
(ii) 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.
(iii) 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.
(iv) 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.
(v)
			 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.