In the event an employee believes he or she has been confronted by or has witnessed an act of harassment, it is the employee's responsibility to immediately report such action to the employee's Supervisor, Department Head, Assistant Village Administrator, Village Administrator or Village Attorney. These are the individuals who are authorized by this policy to receive and act upon complaints of harassment or discrimination on behalf of the Village. This policy does not require reporting harassment or discrimination to any individual who is the source of the harassing or discriminatory conduct.
It is critical in establishing a workplace free of harassment that an individual who experiences or witnesses an incident perceived as being harassing has access to a mechanism for reporting such incidents. At the same time, the purposes of this policy against harassment in the workplace are not furthered where a complaint is found to be false and frivolous and made to accomplish some other end than stopping harassment. A complaint that is determined to be false and frivolous can result in a severe level of discipline or discharge. A false or frivolous complaint does not refer to complaints made in good faith that cannot be proven. (Ord. 3671, 12-11-2017)