Unlawful Discrimination

The purpose of the College’s policy is to prevent unlawful discrimination and to offer an individual who believes he/she has experienced such harassment a swift and secure means to end it. The College regards such behavior as a violation of the standards of conduct required of all persons associated with the institution. Accordingly, those inflicting such behavior on others within the College setting are subject to the full range of internal institutional disciplinary actions, including separation from the College. Unlawful harassment need not be intentional to violate this policy.

 

DEFINITIONS


Sex-Based Discrimination
Sexual harassment includes unwelcome conduct, based on sex or gender (expression and/or identity), when:

• Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of an individual’s employment or student status or;
• Submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as the basis for employment or academic decisions affecting such individual or;
• Such conduct is so severe and/or pervasive it has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with a person’s college employment, academic performance or participation in college programs or activities, or creates a working, learning, program or activity environment that a reasonable person would find intimidating, hostile or offensive.

Depending upon the severity and/or pervasiveness of the conduct, sexual harassment may include, for example, subjecting a person to egregious or unwelcome sexual attention, physical or verbal advances, sexual flirtations or propositions, vulgar talk or jokes, degrading graphic materials or verbal comments of a sexual nature about an individual or his or her appearance, or the display of sexually suggestive objects outside a scholarly context and purpose.

Sexual harassment also includes sexual misconduct, sexual violence, sexual assault, intimate partner violence, and stalking.

Sex and gender discrimination also includes gender-based bullying, discrimination based on pregnancy status, individual’s sexual orientation, gender identity and expression.

The problems sexual harassment (both overt and subtle) can present are often complex.  Defining the kinds of verbal or physical behavior that constitute sexual harassment, given the variety of different circumstances that exist within the Spelman community, often depend on the situation and status of the parties involved.


Other Forms of Discrimination
Discriminatory harassment includes verbal, physical, or graphic conduct that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual or group on the basis of race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin, genetic information, age, disability, veteran’s status, or any factor that is a prohibited consideration under applicable law, and that is so severe and/or pervasive it:

• Has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive employment, educational, or living environment; or
• Has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance or a student’s academic performance.

Depending upon its severity and/or pervasiveness, the prohibited behavior may include conduct or material (physical, oral, written, graphic, electronic messages or media posted or circulated in the community) involving epithets, slurs, negative stereotyping, threatening, intimidating, or hostile acts, that serve no scholarly purpose appropriate to the academic or employment context and gratuitously denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual or group because of race, color, religion, ethnic or national origin, genetic information, age, disability, veteran’s status, or any factor protected by applicable law.

Actions, words, jokes, emails, materials or comments based on an individual’s race, color, religion, creed, national origin, age, disability, marital status, genetic tests, genetic information or any other legally protected characteristic is unlawful and prohibited.

Such harassment may create an intimidating, threatening or abusive environment, cause personal anguish, and, as an assault upon an individual’s dignity, it is clearly inconsistent with the nature of an academic community.

It should be noted that the informal process described below may not be appropriate in every circumstance. Therefore, the process should be considered a flexible one, which can be modified as appropriate to the situation.

Reporting Unlawful Discrimination to the College
The College encourages anyone who wants to report an incident of unlawful harassment or any form of discrimination, to promptly report the matter. Individuals can raise concerns and make reports without fear of reprisal and will not be retaliated against for reporting incidents of harassment or discrimination.

1. Complaints of sex-based discrimination, including sexual harassment and violence, dating violence, domestic violence and stalking should be reported to the College’s Title IX & Compliance Director, or Deputy Title IX Coordinators (Director of Human Resources, Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs, and Assistant Vice President for Students Affairs and Dean of Students).
2. Some forms of discrimination, such as sexual assault, dating violence, domestic violence and stalking are also considered crimes, as such the members of the College community are encouraged to report crimes to the Spelman College Public Safety Department.
3. With the exception of sex-based discrimination, employees should report all forms of unlawful harassment to his or her supervisor. The supervisor should contact the Office of Human Resources. If the supervisor is unavailable or if the individual does not feel comfortable approaching his or her supervisor with the report, the individual should immediately contact the Director of Human Resources, the Associate Director of Human Resources, or the divisional Vice President, or Department Chair.
4. Any student who wants to report an incident of unlawful discrimination is encouraged to promptly report the matter to the Assistant Vice President and Dean of Students, Title IX & Compliance Director (sex based discrimination) Student Access Center (disability), or Public Safety (crime).

 

Responsibilities of Management
Any supervisor or manager who becomes aware of possible sexual or other unlawful discrimination must promptly advise the Director of Human Resources, the Associate Director of Human Resources, the divisional Vice President or Department Chair. All complaints will be taken seriously and thoroughly and fairly investigated. To the extent practical, the privacy of all parties involved will be protected.

Disciplinary Action
Anyone found responsible for engaging in unlawful discrimination will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including expulsion or termination of employment, and/or actions outlined in the Student Handbook, Employee Handbook and/or Faculty Handbook, and Policy Prohibiting Sexual Misconduct, Relationship Violence and Stalking (PDF).

Informal and Formal Complaint Resolution for Sex-Based Discrimination
The College’s Policy Prohibiting Sexual Misconduct, Relationship Violence and Stalking (PDF) and related Complaint Resolution Procedures (PDF) outline the College’s process for informal and formal resolution of complaints of sex based discrimination. Any member of the community may submit an incident report, using the online form available on the Title IX and Compliance office web page, available at www.spelman.edu/title-ix. Individuals may also submit a complaint in writing to titleixteam@spelman.edu, or contact the Title IX & Compliance Director by phone at 404-270-5060.

Informal Process for Resolution and Investigation for other forms of Discrimination
Individuals who are affected by or are aware of suspected cases of discrimination are urged to bring such situations to the College’s attention through the most comfortable of a variety of routes. In turn, the person(s) receiving the complaint will treat it privately; the complaint will be communicated only to those individuals who must be informed to investigate the complaint and facilitate a resolution. Regardless of requests for confidentiality, employees are obligated to notify the Title IX Director when they are informed regarding instances of sex discrimination; this obligation holds even in instances when there is no current interest in filing a formal or informal complaint for resolution.  An employee may discuss the problem with his or her supervisor, divisional Vice President, Department Chair, or the Office of Human Resources directly and select to resolve the matter informally. The employee also has the right to request a formal investigation be conducted by the College.

Students also have a right to request a formal investigation and are encouraged to adhere to the guidelines in the Student Handbook, contact the Division of Student Affairs, and/or follow the guidelines outlined in the Policy Prohibiting Sexual Misconduct, Relationship Violence and Stalking (PDF).

Formal Complaint Review Process for Other Forms of Discrimination
An individual may request a formal review of a complaint of discrimination by submitting a written request for such action to the Office of Human Resources. The Director of Human Resources will consult with the individual bringing the complaint, the alleged harasser and others, if appropriate, in order to determine the facts of the matter. The College may also consult legal counsel. The Director of Human Resources and third party investigator (if appropriate) will then prepare a set of findings as promptly as possible, typically within 90 days of the original complaint. The resolution will be communicated to the complainant and the alleged harasser.

Request for Further Review for Other Forms of Discrimination
If the first review is not satisfactory to the complainant, he/she may request a final review by the President’s Office by submitting a request for review that contains an explanation of the basis for further appeal of the resolution. The President’s Office may designate a representative to review the complaint in order to accept or modify the previous resolution.

Helpful Links
Title IX Office - 404-270-4005 titleixteam@spelman.edu Title IX Contacts
24-Hour Crisis Line  - LiveSAFE Resources – 770-427-3390
Safety & Resources Complainant Brochure (PDF) Pregnant and Parenting Brochure (PDF) Spelman Safety Plan (PDF) Respondents Rights, Resources and Support (PDF)