1. St. Lawrence-Lewis BOCES Anti-Harassment Training - Employees
The course can be navigated by clicking on the arrows located at the bottom of the screen next to the “Slide # of #” wording or by clicking the links on the left hand navigation portion of the screen.

2. Introduction
Harassment is a major issue of concern in our schools and is usually present due to intolerance, insensitivity, or ignorance of diversity.
Students and employees may not be as successful as possible because of incidents of harassment and are sometimes disadvantaged or harmed in both tangible and intangible ways.
The purpose of this training is to assist with the identification, prevention, and elimination of harassment in our school districts.

3. Definition
Harassment is any unwelcome verbal or physical conduct that has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work or school performance.
Such conduct may or may not be sufficiently severe to be unlawful, but all such conduct should be viewed as against school district policy and subject to disciplinary action.

4. Protected Status
Harassing conduct may violate federal and/or state legal provisions, as well as district policy, if the conduct occurs because of a person’s protected status:
Age
Disability
Gender
Sexual orientation
Marital status
Race
Color
National Origin
Religion
Military, Veteran Status

5. Retaliation
The law also protects students and employees from retaliation for certain protected activity, e.g.,:
Filing a good faith complaint that is later deemed as lacking merit;
Reporting or objecting to discrimination or harassment against another student or employee;
Participating in complaint proceedings or hearings on behalf of another student or employee.

6. Prohibited Conduct
Any type of physical assault or inappropriate touching is strictly prohibited, as is any other unwelcome conduct that is severe or pervasive enough to alter another person’s conditions of education or employment, e.g.,:
Bullying or threats
Racial or ethnic slurs
Sexual innuendo or advances
Insulting or demeaning s or other correspondence
Obscene gestures or leering
Pornographic or derogatory pictures or graffiti

7. Severe or Pervasive
Harassment is considered severe or pervasive if it has the purpose or effect of:
Creating an intimidating, hostile, or offensive academic or work environment; or,
Unreasonably interfering with an individual’s academic or work performance; or,
Adversely impacting an individual’s educational or employment opportunities.

8. Reasonable Person
Certain types of conduct might be considered harassment by some people and not by others. The standard that has been set by the United States Supreme Court is that unlawful harassment may be occurring if a reasonable person with the victim’s perspective would find the conduct intimidating, hostile, or abusive.
If there is a power imbalance (e.g., supervisor/supervisee or adult/child), there is much greater potential for the less empowered person to perceive any negative conduct on the part of the more empowered person as harassment.

9. Employee Rights
The Board of Education is committed to providing students and employees an environment that is free of harassment and intimidation.
Every employee has the right to the protections afforded by the Board’s anti-harassment policy and copies of this policy are available upon request.
Any employee who believes that a violation of this policy has occurred has the right to file a formal complaint. A standardized complaint form is also available upon request.

10. Complaint Procedures
The Board-appointed Compliance Officer has the responsibility to promptly and thoroughly investigate each complaint and to render a determination regarding the merit of the allegation.
If the Compliance Officer is the one against whom the complaint is being filed, an alternative complaint officer will be assigned to the investigation by the Superintendent of Schools.
Everyone interviewed or otherwise necessarily involved in an investigation will be advised of both the confidentiality and the non-retaliation restrictions.

11. Complaint Investigation
The Compliance Officer will keep a complaint as confidential as is consistent with a thorough investigation, collective bargaining agreements, and any other applicable law, regulation, policy, or guideline.
A complainant who makes a good faith allegation will be afforded protection from retaliation, even if the allegation ultimately is determined to be erroneous.
However, an employee or student who knowingly makes a false allegation will be subject to appropriate disciplinary action.

12. Federal Legal Protections
Filing a complaint with the employer does not in any way preclude or diminish the student’s or employee’s access to those additional protections afforded by various laws. Federal laws include:
Title VII of the Civil Rights Act
Title IX of the Educational Amendments
Americans with Disabilities Act
Age Discrimination in Employment Act
Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act

13. State Legal Protections
There are also New York State laws and regulations that augment federal protections. The state’s primary non-discrimination law is the New York State Human Rights Law, as amended by the Sexual Orientation Non-Discrimination Act.
Here again it should be emphasized that objectionable conduct on the part of an employee or a student may warrant disciplinary action, even if that conduct is not severe or pervasive enough to violate federal or state legislation.

14. Employee Responsibilities
It is the responsibility of every employee to refrain from any conduct prohibited by the Board’s anti-harassment policy.
Each employee must make every effort to maintain an academic and work environment that is free of harassment and intimidation.
If an employee witnesses or has specific knowledge of a possible occurrence of harassment, the employee has an obligation to report the alleged harassment to a supervisor or to the Compliance Officer.

15. Students Most Targeted
Anyone, regardless of gender, race, disability, or other protected status, may be a target of harassment. However, studies have revealed that the following types of students are most frequently targeted by bullies and bigots:
Isolated, unassertive, or low self esteem
Vulnerable due to life crisis situation
Previously abused, physically or emotionally
Physically or mentally handicapped
Homosexual, bisexual, or transgender

16. Effect on Students
A 2001 study by the American Association of University Women found that over 25% of 8th-11th graders reported harassment at school that was severe enough to have, at minimum, these behavioral effects:
Not want to go to school
Talk less in class
Find it hard to study
Have trouble sleeping
Loss of appetite
Girls – 30%, Boys – 15%
Girls – 30%, Boys – 18%
Girls – 20%, Boys – 13%
Girls – 20%, Boys – 9%
Girls – 23%, Boys – 8%

17. Failure to Report
A recent Harvard study estimates that only about 5% of victims, adult and child, actually report harassment in an academic environment, due to concerns such as the following:
Embarrassment, concern about loss of privacy
Hope that the behavior will end if ignored
Fear of retaliation
Concern about not being believed
Concern about being labeled a troublemaker
Fear that the complaint process might be worse than the harassment itself

18. Duty of Reasonable Care
Educational settings, in particular, require that every employee be held to a standard that will not jeopardize the well being of students or peers. Employees should:
Model appropriate behavior, refrain from any demeaning or derogatory language
Be alert, exercise reasonable care for students and coworkers
Intervene when inappropriate behavior witnessed
Refrain from judging or blaming victims
Report any serious situations immediately

19. Test your knowledge
Click on the following link to open up a short test on “Anti-Harassment - Employees”.
Anti-Harassment Quiz