Sexual Harassment

It is the policy of the University of Arkansas System Division of Agriculture that sexual harassment in any form is inappropriate and unacceptable conduct and will not be tolerated. Sexual harassment is illegal, undermines the employee/employer relationship, interferes with productivity, and threatens the mental, emotional, and physical well-being of employees.

Any employee engaging in sexual harassment is subject to disciplinary action.

Supervisors are subject to disciplinary action if they tolerate sexual harassment, fail to take appropriate action on allegations or findings of sexual harassment, or retaliate against employees who report or file complaints of sexual harassment.

Sexual Harassment Defined:

Sexual harassment is a violation of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (as amended) which prohibits discrimination on the basis of sex. Sexual harassment is a prohibited personnel practice when it results in personnel decisions for or against an employee made on the basis of gender rather than job performance. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (E.E.O.) has defined sexual harassment as:

Unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when:

• Submission to or rejection of such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of employment;
• Submission to or rejection of such conduct is used as a basis for employment decisions affecting an individual; or
• Such conduct interferes with an individual’s work performance or creates an intimidating, hostile, or offensive work environment.

Sexual harassment is also defined as participating in coercive or repeated unsolicited and unwelcome verbal comments, gestures, or physical contacts of a sexual nature or by using implicit or explicit coercive sexual behavior in the process of conducting agency business or to control, influence or affect the career, salary, or job of an employee.

Virtually any sexually-oriented language, conduct or behavior can be viewed as sexual harassment if it is unwelcome. It is the impact of the conduct or behavior on the recipient (or on observers), not the intent of the harasser, which determines findings of sexual harassment.

To learn more specific information, please visit the Division Sexual Harassment Policy

Reporting:

If an employee believes they have been discriminated against, complaints should be made to Barbara Batiste, bbatiste@uada.edu, (501) 671-2213.

Retaliation Prohibited

 It is the Division of Agriculture's policy, and federal law prohibits any form of retaliation against a person who makes a complaint of discrimination or participates in an investigation of discrimination. Retaliation against a complainant or witness is, in itself, a violation of Division policy and the law, and is a serious separate offense.