(A) It is the county’s policy that it will not tolerate the sexual harassment of any employee by any other employee of this county. Sexual harassment is an unlawful employment practice in violation of 42 USC 2000e et seq., Title VII of the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964, as well as 775 ILCS 5/1-101 et seq., the Illinois Human Rights Act. Sexual harassment subjects the harasser to liability for any such unlawful conduct.
(B) 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 the conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a condition of the 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 environment which is intimidating, hostile, or offensive to the employee.
(C) Each employee must exercise his or her own good judgment to avoid engaging in conduct that may be perceived by others as sexual harassment. The following are illustrations of actions that the county deems inappropriate and in violation of county policy:
(1) A supervisor tells an employee or implies that he or she can earn a promotion or salary increase by providing any form of sexual favor to or dating the supervisor;
(2) A supervisor downgrades an employee’s performance rating because he or she turned down the supervisor’s request for any sexual favor or date;
(3) An employee gives unwelcome hugs, kisses, massages, or makes other unwelcome physical contact with another employee;
(4) An employee tells sexually offensive or degrading jokes or stories;
(5) An employee uses sexually oriented profanity;
(6) An employee makes offensive gestures of a sexual nature or repeatedly stares at another;
(7) An employee makes unwelcome comments about the appearance or anatomy of another;
(8) The work place contains pictures of naked or scantily clothed men or women, or sexually explicit pictures or text;
(9) An employee interferes with another’s movement by blocking or standing in an uncomfortably close proximity; and/or
(10) An employee repeatedly asks another for a date after being turned down in a manner that does not invite a further invitation.
(Res. 2002.5, passed - -2002)