(A) It is the County of DeWitt's policy that it will not tolerate or condone discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, color, religion, creed, sex, gender-identity, gender-expression, sexual orientation, pregnancy, childbirth, medical or common conditions relating to pregnancy and childbirth, genetic information, national origin, age, physical or mental disability, ancestry, marital status, military status, arrest record, unfavorable discharge from military service, order of protection status, citizenship status or any other classification protected under federal or state law. Sexual misconduct is also prohibited. The County of DeWitt will neither tolerate nor condone discrimination, harassment or sexual misconduct by employees, managers, supervisors, elected officials, appointed officials, co-workers, or non-employees with whom County of DeWitt has a business, service, or professional relationship. “Employee,” for purposes of this policy only, includes any individual performing work for County of DeWitt, an apprentice, an applicant for apprenticeship, or an unpaid intern. County of DeWitt has appointed Mike Trummel as its ethics officer to receive and oversee investigations of complaints made pursuant to this policy and he is referred to in this policy as County of DeWitt's "Ethics Officer." He can be contacted by email at mtrummel@dewittcountyill.com. County of DeWitt reserves the right to change the Ethics Officer from time to time.
(B) Retaliation against an employee who complains about or reports any act of discrimination, harassment or misconduct in violation of this policy is prohibited. Retaliation against any employee who participates in an investigation pursuant to this policy is likewise prohibited. The County of DeWitt is committed to ensuring and providing a work place free of discrimination, harassment, sexual misconduct and retaliation. County of DeWitt will take disciplinary action, up to and including termination, against an employee who violates this policy.
(C) As set forth above, sexual harassment and sexual misconduct are prohibited. Sexual harassment includes unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, or any other visual, verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when:
(1) Submission to or rejection of this conduct explicitly or implicitly affects a term or condition of individual's employment;
(2) Submission to or rejection of the conduct is used as the basis for an employment decision affecting the harassed employee or;
(3) The harassment has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with the employee's work performance or creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment because of the persistent, severe or pervasive nature of the conduct.
(D) Sexual harassment can occur in a variety of circumstances, including but not limited to the following:
(1) The employee as well as the harasser may be a woman or a man. The employee does not have to be of the opposite sex.
(2) The harasser can be the employee's supervisor, an agent of the employer, a supervisor in another area, a co-worker, or a non-employee.
(3) The employee does not have to be the person harassed but could be anyone affected by the offensive conduct.
(4) Unlawful sexual harassment may occur without economic injury to or discharge of the employee.
(5) The harasser's conduct must be unwelcome.
(E) Each employee must exercise his or her own good judgment to avoid engaging in conduct that may be perceived by others as sexual harassment or harassment based on any status protected by law. The following are illustrations of actions that County of DeWitt deems inappropriate and in violation of our policy:
(1) Unwanted sexual advances.
(2) Offering employment benefits in exchange for sexual favors.
(3) Retaliating or threatening retaliation after a negative response to a sexual advance or after an employee has made or threatened to make a harassment complaint.
(4) Visual conduct such as leering, making sexual gestures, displaying sexually suggestive objects or pictures, cartoons, calendars or posters.
(5) Verbal conduct such as making derogatory comments, using epithets or slurs, making sexually explicit jokes or suggestive comments about a person's body or dress.
(6) Written or electronic communications of a sexual nature or containing statements or images which may be offensive to individuals in a particular protected group, such as racial or ethnic stereotypes or stereotypes about disabled individuals.
(7) Physical conduct such as unwanted touching, assaulting, impeding or blocking movements.
(F) Sexual misconduct is strictly prohibited by County of DeWitt and can include any inappropriate and/or illegal conduct of a sexual nature including, but not limited to, sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, sexual intimidation, rape, sexual assault, or ANY sexual contact or sexual communications with a minor (including, but not limited to, conduct or communications which are written, electronic, verbal, visual, virtual or physical).
(Res. 2019-05, passed 12-19-2019)