[Adopted 9-15-1994; amended in its entirety 2-15-2018 by L.L. No. 2-2018; 11-15-2018 by L.L. No.
4-2018]
A.
It is the policy of the Town of Ghent to provide and maintain a work
environment which is free from unlawful harassment and discrimination
based on sex (with or without sexual conduct), race, creed, color,
religion, national origin, age, disability, sexual orientation, marital
status, military status, domestic violence victim status, arrest or
conviction record, genetic characteristics, and any other class protected
by law (collectively referred to as "discriminatory harassment" or
"harassment"). Discrimination or harassment based on these characteristics
is a form of unlawful discrimination and is a form of misconduct that
undermines the integrity of the employment relationship and will not
be tolerated. Accordingly, such conduct is prohibited in each and
every work environment and each and every situation that directly
impacts the work environment.
B.
As such the Town expressly prohibits any form of employee discrimination
or harassment based on race, creed, religion, sex, national origin,
age, disability, or an individual's status in any class protected
as stated above by applicable federal, state, or local law. Improper
interference with the ability of Town employees to perform their expected
job duties will not be tolerated.
C.
All Town employees will be expected to comply with this policy and
with all applicable laws and regulations prohibiting sexual harassment
and other forms of discrimination or harassment and must take appropriate
measures to ensure that such conduct does not occur. Appropriate disciplinary
action will be taken against any employee who violates this policy.
Based on the seriousness of the offense, disciplinary action may include,
but may not be limited to, verbal or written reprimand, suspension
or termination.
D.
This policy applies to all applicants and employees of the Town of
Ghent, as well as all interns, whether paid or unpaid, contractors,
and persons conducting business with the Town of Ghent. This policy
prohibits harassment, discrimination and retaliation whether engaged
in by fellow employees, by a supervisor or manager, or by someone
not directly connected to the Town (e.g., an outside vendor, consultant
or citizen).
E.
Conduct prohibited by these policies is unacceptable in the workplace
and in any work-related setting outside the workplace, such as during
work trips, work meetings, and work-related social events.
F.
The interpretation and administration of this policy shall be the
responsibility of the Town Supervisor. This includes development of
procedures for handling and investigating complaints of sexual harassment
and other forms of harassment, and enforcement of appropriate sanctions
for such conduct. The Town Supervisor will disseminate information
and training in a manner that is consistent with and in furtherance
of this policy. Any and all questions regarding this policy should
be directed to the Town Supervisor.
A.
Sexual harassment is defined as:
(1)
Unwelcome sexual advances, request for sexual favors, and other verbal
or physical conduct of a sexual nature when:
(a)
Submission to such conduct is made explicitly or implicitly
a term or condition of an individual's employment (e.g., promotion,
training, assignments, etc.);
(b)
Submission to, or rejection of, such conduct by an individual
is used as a basis for employment decisions affecting such individual;
or
(c)
Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering
with an individual's work performance or creating an intimidating,
hostile, or offensive working environment.
(2)
Examples of specific behaviors that may be considered sexual harassment
include, but are not limited to, the following:
(a)
Spoken or written words related to an individual's sex.
(b)
Any sexual advance that is unwelcome.
(c)
Sexually oriented comments.
(d)
Showing or displaying pornographic or sexually explicit objects
or pictures in the workplace.
(e)
Offensive touching, patting, or pinching.
(f)
Requests for sexual acts or favors.
(g)
Abusing the dignity of an employee through insulting or degrading
sexual remarks or conduct.
(h)
Threats, demands, or suggestions that an employee's work
status is contingent upon her/his toleration of, or acquiescence to,
sexual advances.
(i)
Subtle pressure for sexual activities.
(j)
Sexually charged or explicit jokes, stories, and comments.
(k)
Leering at a person.
(l)
Visiting sexual or otherwise inappropriate websites or distributing
the same via electronic mail.
(3)
Sexual harassment is gender neutral and may involve members of the
same or different gender.
(4)
It is no excuse that the alleged conduct "meant no harm" or was "a
joke."
B.
Other unlawful harassment:
(1)
Discrimination or harassment on the basis of any other protected
characteristic is also prohibited.
(2)
Prohibited discrimination or harassment is verbal or physical conduct
that is offensive to or shows hostility or aversion toward an individual
because of his/her race, creed, color, religion, national origin,
age, disability, or any of the protected statuses enumerated above,
and that:
(3)
Examples of discrimination or harassment include, but are not limited
to, the following:
(a)
Distributing epithets, slurs, jokes, remarks, or negative stereotyping
that are derogatory or demeaning to an individual's or group's
characteristics, or that promote stereotypes.
(b)
Threatening, intimidating, or hostile acts.
(c)
Displaying or circulating in the workplace (including through
e-mail, internet, or social networking sites, such as, but not limited
to Facebook, MySpace, Instagram, Snapchat or Google+) written or graphic
material that denigrates or shows hostility or aversion toward an
individual or group, based on an individual's protected class.
A.
Reporting discrimination or harassment.
(1)
If an individual is subjected to a situation which he/she believes
constitutes discriminatory harassment in violation of this policy,
the Town recommends that the individual advise the harasser that his/her
behavior is not welcomed and will not be tolerated. Neither this policy
nor state/federal law requires that an individual tell an alleged
harasser to stop his/her actions. Employees should feel free to keep
written records of any alleged harassment incidents, including the
date, time, location, names of people involved, witnesses (if any),
and who said or did what to whom.
(2)
If an alleged incident of discriminatory harassment cannot be resolved
directly between the parties involved, a written or verbal complaint
should be filed by the affected individual with the individual's
department head or the Town Supervisor. In the event the employee
does not believe it would be appropriate to file the complaint with
the department head, it may be filed directly with the Town Supervisor.
Moreover, all department heads are instructed to forward all complaints
to the Town Supervisor.
(3)
All harassment complaints will be investigated as promptly as possible
and resolved within a reasonable time after the receipt of the complaint.
The Town, through an investigator and with the oversight of Town Supervisor
or his/her designee, will coordinate an investigation of the complaint.
Following the investigation, a written report of the findings and
conclusions shall be issued by the investigator to the Town Supervisor.
All information gathered during an investigation of a harassment complaint
will be handled in a confidential manner, to the extent possible.
(4)
Based upon the findings and conclusions of the investigation, a determination
on the complaint will be issued by the Town Supervisor. Thereafter,
the Town Supervisor will communicate the results back to the complainant.
In the event the alleged harasser is also an employee, they will also
receive notification of the results of the investigation.
A.
No person covered by this policy shall be subject to adverse action
for reporting incidents of harassment or discrimination, or assisting
in any investigation of such a complaint.
B.
Retaliation against any individual making a discrimination or harassment
complaint or assisting in the investigation of such a complaint is
strictly forbidden.
C.
Retaliation is a form of misconduct.
D.
Retaliation, like discrimination and harassment, is against the law
and is a serious violation of this policy.
E.
Employees who retaliate against other employees who complain about
discrimination or harassment and/or participate in an investigation
of discrimination or harassment will be subject to disciplinary action.
F.
Individuals subject to this policy who believe they have been subject
to retaliation should immediately report same to the Town Supervisor.
A.
In the event a complaint of discriminatory harassment is determined
to be founded, the Town will take disciplinary action in accordance
with the provisions of applicable collective bargaining agreements
and/or state law.
B.
If disciplinary charges are filed against an employee on the grounds
that the Town has determined the employee is guilty of discriminatory
harassment, the accused employee may exercise his/her rights through
the disciplinary procedure provided for in his/her labor contract
and/or state law.
C.
This policy does not preclude the filing of harassment complaints with either the New York State Division of Human Rights or the Federal Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, or the pursuing of any other remedies as permitted by law, including any applicable local laws (see § 36-20 below).
D.
File your complaint as soon as possible as some time limitations
may preclude bringing an action in certain forums.
E.
The following is contact information for the New York State Division
of Human Rights. General inquiries may also be directed to info@dhr.ny.gov
and local offices are also available at infoAlbany@dhr.ny.gov.
F.
The following is contact information for the Federal Equal Employment
Opportunity Commission: www.eeoc.gov.
A.
All managerial and supervisory personnel of the Town of Ghent shall
be responsible for enforcing this policy and shall have particular
responsibility for ensuring that the work environment under their
supervision is free from discriminatory harassment and its effects.
Failure of a manager or supervisor to comply with this responsibility
may result in disciplinary action.
B.
All managerial and supervisory personnel who receive discriminatory
harassment complaints will be responsible for immediately forwarding
such complaints to the Town Supervisor.
C.
The Town of Ghent will conduct annual training for managerial and
supervisory personnel on the issues surrounding discriminatory harassment,
its effects and its appearances, and the role and responsibility of
managerial/supervisory personnel in preventing incidents of harassment
complaints.
D.
The Town of Ghent shall distribute this policy to all Town employees
and all others covered by its parameters. Copies of this policy will
be distributed to new employees when they are hired and provided at
each annual training.
E.
Copies of this policy will be conspicuously posted.
A.
State Human Rights Law (HRL).
(1)
The Human Rights Law (HRL), codified as N.Y. Executive Law, art.
15, § 290 et seq., applies to all employers in New York
State with regard to sexual harassment, and protects employees, paid
or unpaid interns and nonemployees, regardless of immigration status.
A complaint alleging violation of the Human Rights Law may be filed
either with the Division of Human Rights (DHR) or in New York State
Supreme Court.
(2)
Complaints with DHR may be filed any time within one year of the
harassment. If an individual did not file at DHR, they can sue directly
in state court under the HRL, within three years of the alleged sexual
harassment. An individual may not file with DHR if they have already
filed a HRL complaint in state court.
(3)
Complaining internally to Town of Ghent does not extend your time
to file with DHR or in court. The one year or three years is counted
from date of the most recent incident of harassment.
(4)
You do not need an attorney to file a complaint with DHR, and there
is no cost to file with DHR.
(5)
DHR will investigate your complaint and determine whether there is
probable cause to believe that sexual harassment has occurred. Probable
cause cases are forwarded to a public hearing before an administrative
law judge. If sexual harassment is found after a hearing, DHR has
the power to award relief, which varies but may include requiring
your employer to take action to stop the harassment, or redress the
damage caused, including paying of monetary damages, attorney's
fees and civil fines.
(6)
DHR's main office contact information is: NYS Division of Human
Rights, One Fordham Plaza, Fourth Floor, Bronx, New York 10458. You
may call (718) 741-8400 or visit: www.dhr.ny.gov.
(7)
Contact DHR at (888) 392-3644 or visit dhr.ny.gov/complaint for more
information about filing a complaint. The website has a complaint
form that can be downloaded, filled out, notarized and mailed to DHR.
The website also contains contact information for DHR's regional
offices across New York State.
B.
Civil Rights Act of 1964.
(1)
The United States Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC)
enforces federal antidiscrimination laws, including Title VII of the
1964 federal Civil Rights Act (codified as 42 U.S.C. § 2000e
et seq.). An individual can file a complaint with the EEOC anytime
within 300 days from the harassment. There is no cost to file a complaint
with the EEOC. The EEOC will investigate the complaint, and determine
whether there is reasonable cause to believe that discrimination has
occurred, at which point the EEOC will issue a right to sue letter
permitting the individual to file a complaint in federal court.
(2)
The EEOC does not hold hearings or award relief, but may take other
action including pursuing cases in federal court on behalf of complaining
parties. Federal courts may award remedies if discrimination is found
to have occurred. In general, private employers must have at least
15 employees to come within the jurisdiction of the EEOC.
(3)
An employee alleging discrimination at work can file a "charge of
discrimination." The EEOC has district, area, and field offices where
complaints can be filed. Contact the EEOC by calling 1-800-669-4000
(TTY: 1-800-669-6820), visiting their website at www.eeoc.gov or via
email at info@eeoc.gov.
(4)
If an individual filed an administrative complaint with DHR, DHR
will file the complaint with the EEOC to preserve the right to proceed
in federal court.
