(a) The City of Upper Sandusky is committed to providing a work environment that is free of discrimination and unlawful harassment. The City of Upper Sandusky prohibits all forms of unlawful harassment, including sexual harassment. Unlawful harassment may exist in many forms. Generally, unlawful harassment consists of unwelcome conduct, whether verbal, physical or visual, that is based on an individual’s protected status, such as sex, color, race, religion, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, or other legally protected status. The City of Upper Sandusky will not tolerate unlawful harassing conduct that affects tangible job benefits, that unreasonably interferes with an individual’s work performance, or that creates an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.
(b) Sexual harassment is defined as unwelcome sexual advances, requests for sexual favors, and other physical, verbal, or visual conduct based on sex when:
(1) Submission to such conduct is made either explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of the individual’s employment; or
(2) Submission to or rejection of the conduct by an individual is used for the basis of an employment decision that affects that individual; or
(3) Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance by creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive working environment.
Sexual harassment may include a range of behaviors and may involve individuals of the same or different gender. Depending on the circumstances, these behaviors may include, but are not limited to, explicit sexual propositions, sexual innuendoes, suggestive comments, sexually-oriented joking, obscene language or gestures, display of obscene printed or visual material, and physical contact, such as unwelcome touching, brushing against someone’s body, or assault.
(c) No employee of the City of Upper Sandusky has the authority to require any other employee or individual to engage in any form of sexual behavior as a term or condition of employment.
(d) Any other form of unlawful harassment, including, but not limited to, harassment based upon color, race, religion, national origin, age, disability, veteran status or other legally protected status, is also unlawful and strictly prohibited. Depending on the circumstances, this type of unlawful harassment may include a range of behaviors such as, but not limited to, verbal epithets, insults, assault, the display of insensitive or otherwise offensive printed or visual material, and insensitive or offensive jokes or gestures.
(e) Any employee who believes that he or she is the victim of discrimination or unlawful harassment has a responsibility to immediately report such issue to his or her supervisor, or, if the supervisor is unavailable or if the employee believes that it would be inappropriate to contact the supervisor, the employee should immediately contact the Mayor or Law Director. All employees are responsible for helping to ensure that the City of Upper Sandusky does not allow discrimination or unlawful harassment to take place. Any employee who feels that they have witnessed such conduct has responsibility to immediately report such conduct to his or her supervisor, Mayor or Law Director as the case may be.
(f) All reports of discrimination or unlawful harassment will be investigated promptly and such investigation will be conducted by an appropriate individual in order to ensure a thorough and impartial investigation. All reports will be handled as confidentially as possible. It is important to note that the City of Upper Sandusky cannot conduct a thorough and impartial investigation and ensure complete confidentiality. Following the conclusion of the investigation, the victim of the alleged discrimination or harassment will be advised of the findings of the investigation and any conclusion or action taken following the report. Any person who has been alleged to have engaged in discrimination or unlawful harassment will be notified of the allegations and informed of the investigation. The person who has alleged to have engaged in unlawful harassment will be given an opportunity to make a written statement regarding the report. Following the conclusion of the investigation, any employee who is found to have engaged in discrimination or unlawful harassment will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment. In all instances, the City of Upper Sandusky will take corrective action that is designed to stop the harassing conduct and to prevent such conduct from recurring in the future. If necessary, other action will be taken to remedy the discrimination or unlawful harassment.
(g) The City of Upper Sandusky prohibits any type of retaliation against any individual who has made a good faith report of discrimination or unlawful harassment or who has participated in an investigation of discrimination or unlawful harassment. Any act of retaliation against any employee for making a good faith report or participating in an investigation is a violation of this policy and may result in disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment. Any employee who believes that they are the victim of retaliation should report such retaliation to his or her supervisor or to the Mayor or Law Director as the case may be.
(h) The City of Upper Sandusky needs employees’ help in preventing discrimination and unlawful harassment. It is important that all employees recognize this shared responsibility and are willing to be forthcoming regarding any such issues. If an employee does not report such issues, it may be difficult for the City to discover that such discrimination or unlawful harassment is occurring. The City of Upper Sandusky cannot correct conduct of which it is not aware. By working together, the City and its employees can help eliminate discrimination and unlawful harassment in the workplace.
(Ord. 76-11. Passed 6-6-05.)