Policy 4111 – Employee Anti-Harassment

The Kenosha Unified School District seeks to provide fair and equal employment opportunities and to maintain a professional work and academic environment comprised of people who respect one another and who believe in the District’s high ideals. Harassment is a form of misconduct that undermines the integrity of the District’s employment and academic relationships. All employees and students must be allowed to work and learn in an environment that is free from intimidation and harassment.

All new staff members will receive a copy of the employee anti-harassment policy and other anti-harassment educational information as a part of the initial employment process and at other times as appropriate and necessary.

Harassment or similar unacceptable activities based on a person’s membership in a protected class that could become a condition of employment or a basis for personnel decisions, or which create a hostile, intimidating or offensive environment are specifically prohibited by the District. The District will vigorously enforce its prohibition against discriminatory harassment based on race, color, national origin or undocumented/immigration status (including limited English proficiency), marital or parental status, sexual orientation, transgender status, gender expression, gender identity and gender nonconformity, physical, mental, emotional or learning disability and social, economic or family status, pregnancy, creed or religion, age, sex, genetic information or disability.

Intimidation and harassment can arise from a broad range of physical, or verbal or non-verbal behaviors for the purpose of creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work or educational environment. This may occur staff to staff, student to staff, or staff to student, regardless of the individuals’ protected class. This may also include non-employees, such as school board members, outside contractors or members of the community (e.g., speakers/presenters, participants on opposing athletic teams, parents/guardians, etc.).

“Harassment” means any threatening, insulting, or dehumanizing gesture, use of data or computer software, or written, verbal or physical conduct directed against an employee based on one or more of the employee’s protected characteristics that:

  1. Places a person in reasonable fear of harm to their person or damage to their property;
  2. Has the effect of substantially interfering with a person’s performance, opportunities, or benefits; or
  3. Has the effect of substantially disrupting the orderly operation of a school.

Behaviors that constitute harassment may include, but are not limited to, the following:

  • physical, sexual or mental abuse;
  • offensive, threatening or derogatory comments to any person, either directly or indirectly, based on the person’s membership in any protected class;
  • name-calling, insults or slurs based upon a person’s real or perceived legally protected characteristics including age, race, creed, color, disability, marital status, sex, national origin, ancestry, sexual orientation, arrest record, conviction record, military service, use or nonuse of lawful products off the employer’s premises during nonworking hours, declining to attend a meeting or to participate in any communication about religious matters or political matters, transgender status, gender expression, gender identity and gender nonconformity, or any other basis protected by law;
  • hate speech, including the use of language, behavior, imagery and/or symbols to express prejudice against a particular group or groups based on any protected characteristic;
  • unwelcome sexual advances, propositions, invitations, solicitations and flirtations;
  • harassing behavior toward a subordinate staff member, regardless of whether such conduct creates a hostile work environment;
  • consensual sexual relationships that lead to favoritism of a subordinate staff member with whom the superior is sexually involved and where such favoritism results in an adverse employment action for another staff member or otherwise creates a hostile work environment;
  • comments about a person’s body/dress/appearance, jokes or, innuendos, degrading language, unwelcome suggestive or insulting sounds or whistles;
  • display of offensive materials, objects, literature, audio recordings or videos in the work or educational environment that are not curriculum related;
  • obscene telephone calls, text messages, or social media postings;
  • communicating with students and/or parents/guardians via email, text message, websites, social media, or visiting their home for non-educational purposes;
  • giving gifts, money, or showing preferential treatment to students for no legitimate educational purpose; and
  • inappropriate boundary invasions of personal space or personal life.

Sexual relationships between District employees, where one has supervisory responsibilities over the other, are firmly discouraged as they are suspect. Such relationships have an inherent possibility of being construed as sexual harassment because the consensual aspect of the relationship may be the result of implicit or explicit duress caused by uncertainty regarding consequences of non-compliance.

These activities are offensive and are inappropriate in a school atmosphere and in the workplace. This is a serious issue not just for the District but also for each individual in the District. It is the responsibility of the administration and all staff members to ensure that these prohibited activities do not occur. A staff member or supervisor may be held individually liable as a harasser and subject to the same penalties that may be imposed upon employers under state or federal law. Any District employee who engages in harassment or similar unacceptable behavior or retaliates against another individual because the individual made a report of such behavior or participated in an investigation of a claim of harassment or similar unacceptable behavior, is subject to immediate discipline, up to and including termination. Any District employee who witnesses or otherwise becomes aware of harassment or similar unacceptable behavior has an affirmative duty to report said conduct to their supervisor, or to the administration.

Any person who believes that he or she has been the subject of prohibited harassment or similar unacceptable behavior or retaliation should report the matter immediately to the Office of Human Resources, Title IX Coordinators, or the Superintendent or their designee. All such reports will be investigated promptly and will be kept confidential within the bounds of the investigation and the law. Individuals are prohibited from knowingly making false statements or knowingly submitting false information to any report, complaint, investigation, or informal or formal resolution process undertaken in relation to acts of harassment. See Policy 4111.1 for detailed information about the discrimination and harassment procedures associated with District employee discrimination and/or harassment.


LEGAL REF:

  • Wisconsin Statutes
    • Sections 111.31-111.395 (Fair employment standards – employment discrimination)
    • 118.195 (Handicapped teacher discrimination)
    • 118.20 (teacher discrimination, including sexual harassment).
  • Title VI and VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended by the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972 (Race, color, national origin discrimination; general employment discrimination)
  • Title IX, Education Amendments of 1972 (Sex discrimination)
  • Section 504, Rehabilitation Act of 1973 (Handicap discrimination)
  • Age Discrimination Act of 1975 (Age discrimination)
  • Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967 (Age discrimination)
  • Pregnancy Discrimination Act (Pregnancy, childbirth or related medical conditions discrimination)
  • Immigration Control and Reform Act of 1986 (Citizenship discrimination)
  • Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, as amended by the ADAAA (Disability discrimination)
  • Civil Rights Act of 1991 (Penalties for discrimination law violations)
  • Equal Employment Opportunities Commission Guidelines (29 C.F.R. – Part 1604.11) (Employee sexual harassment)

CROSS REF.:

  • Policy 4110 – Equal Employment Opportunity and Affirmative Action Employee Handbook
  • Policy 4271 – Employee Complaint (Grievance)
  • Policy 1710 – Nondiscrimination on the Basis of Sex in Education Programs or Activities
  • Policy 4111.1 – Employee Discrimination and Harassment Complaint Procedure

ADMINISTRATIVE REGULATIONS: 34 C.F.R Part 106

AFFIRMED: April 22, 1991

REVISED:

  • March 11, 1997
  • March 9, 1999
  • June 27, 2000
  • September 23, 2014
  • October 28, 2014
  • August 28, 2018
  • November 17, 2020
  • September 27, 2022