U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Free Work Place

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service severe or pervasive to create a hostile • Negative comments about an (Service), Your Employer of Choice, work environment. Thus, there are two employee’s religious beliefs; encourages and strives for a harassment types of discriminatory harassment: free . It is every employee’s Tangible Action and • Negative stereotypes regarding an responsibility to learn about and exercise Hostile Work Environment. A tangible employee’s birthplace or ancestry; his/her basic rights. employment action is “a signitificant change in employment status.” • Negative stereotypes regarding an To help avoid actions and/or statements Examples of tangible emplyoment actions employee’s age when referring to that can be considered harassment, the include but are not limited to: hiring and employees 40 and over; or, following summarizes the Service’s policy firing; promotion and failure to promote; on harassment and zero tolerance. demotion; undesirable reassignment; a • Derogatory or intimidating references decision causing a significant change in to an employee’s mental or physical Policy on Harassment and Zero Tolerance benefits; compensation decisions; and impairment. It is the policy of the Service to provide work assignment. Because only superiors employees with a work environment that are in a position to make these types of What is is free from harassment of all kinds. The decisions, tangible employment action In reference to sexual harassment, Service prohibits employment-related harassment can only be perpetrated the Equal Employment Opportunity harassment on the basis of race, color, by individuals in supervisory positions. Commission provides the following religion, age, disability, national origin, An individual who is authorized to definition: “Unwelcome sexual advances, reprisal, sex (whether or not of a sexual direct another employee’s day-to-day requests for sexual favors, and other nature) or sexual orientation, and genetic work activities qualifies as his or her verbal or physical conduct of a sexual information. supervisor even if that individual does not nature constitute sexual harassment have the authority to undertake tangible ­when: What is the Definition of Harassment? job decisions. Harassment is a form of employment • Submission to such conduct is made discrimination that violates federal A hostile work environment results either explicitly or implicitly a laws when it involves discriminatory from harassment that is so sufficiently term or condition of an individuals treatment on the basis of race, color, sex severe or pervasive that it ­unreasonably employment; (sexual or non-sexual), religion, national interferes with an employee’s work origin, age, disability, or retaliation for performance or creates an intimidating, • Submission to or rejection of such engagement in protective activity which abusive, or offensive work environment. conduct by an individual is used as are protected by Title VII of the Civil Anyone, including a management the basis for employment decisions Rights Act of 1964, the Rehabilitation official, co-worker, or a non-employee affecting such individual; or Act of 1973, and the Age Discrimination can be accused of committing workplace in Employment Act of 1967. Additionally, harassment. • Such conduct has the purpose or effect Executive Orders 13087 and 13145 of unreasonably interfering with an prohibits harassment based on sexual Examples of actions that may result in individual’s work performance or orientation and protected genetic hostile work environment harassment creating an intimidating, hostile, or information respectively. include, but are not limited to: offensive working environment.”

Harassment on-the-job can take • Use of racially derogatory words, Examples of sexual harassment include, place in a variety of forms. Unlawful phrases, or epithets; but are not limited to: is defined as any ­unwelcome verbal or physical conduct • Demonstrations of a racial or ethnic • Making offensive remarks about an that is so objectively offensive as to nature, such as gestures, pictures, employee’s appearance, clothing, or alter the victim’s terms and conditions or drawings that would offend a specific body parts; of employment. The conditions particular racial or ethnic group; of employment are altered if the • Telling sexual jokes, whistling, asking harassment culminated in a tangible • Comments about an individual’s probing questions about personal employment action or was sufficiently skin color or other racial/ethnic sexual habits, throwing kisses, etc.; ­characteristics; • Displaying material of a sexual nature, Can One Incident Constitute Sexual or Human Resources office, their such as cartoons, graffiti, reading Harassment? immediate supervisor, or an appropriate materials, calendars, pictures, t-shirts, It depends. A single sexual advance may management official. Allegations of any posters, etc. constitute harassment if it is linked to type of harassment cannot be ignored. the granting or denial of employment or Once the Service is made aware of a • Physical contact in a manner that may employment benefits. In contrast, unless report, it must be taken seriously and make an employee feel uncomfortable, the conduct is quite severe, a single management must immediately take such as bumping up or brushing incident or isolated incidents of offensive appropriate action. It is also important against the person, kissing, pinching, sexual conduct or remarks generally for employees to be aware that once an grabbing, poking, patting, stroking, do not create a “hostile environment.” issue of harassment (particularly sexual massaging, hugging, etc.; However, a single, unusually severe harassment) is made known to the Office incident of harassment may be sufficient of Equal Opportunity and , • Pressure for social interaction (dating) to constitute a Title VII violation; Diversity and Civil Rights, Human outside of the workplace; and the more severe the harassment, the Resources, or management, an inquiry less need to show a repetitive series must be initiated and completed. Any • Non-verbal actions that may make an of incidents. This is particularly true action taken to resolve and address issues employee feel uncomfortable, such as when the harassment is physical. For of harassment will be confidential and leering or staring. example, unwelcome intentional touching retaliatory action against an employee of an employee’s intimate body areas who raises a claim of harassment will What is Unwelcome Sexual Conduct? is sufficiently offensive to alter the not be tolerated. Any employee found Sexual conduct becomes unlawful only condition of his/her working environment to have participated in harassment of when it is unwelcome. The challenged and constitute a “hostile environment.” any kind will be subject to appropriate conduct must be unwelcome in the sense administrative or disciplinary action, that the employee did not solicit or incite What Should a Sexual Harassment Victim Do? which may include removal from federal it, and in the sense that the employee A victim of harassment need not always service. regarded the conduct as undesirable or confront his/her harasser directly, so long offensive. as his/her conduct demonstrates that If you have any questions or require the harasser’s behavior is unwelcome additional information on the Service’s Who Can Be a Victim of Sexual Harassment? The victim may directly inform the policy on Harassment and Zero The victim may be a woman or a man. harasser that the conduct is unwelcome Tolerance, contact your Office of Equal The victim does not have to be of the and must stop. It is important for the Opportunity and Diversity, Diversity and opposite sex. The victim does not have victim to communicate that the conduct Civil Right, or Human Resources Office. to be the person harassed but could be is unwelcome, particularly when the anyone affected by the offensive conduct. alleged harasser may have some reason U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to believe that the advance may be Budget, Planning, & Human Capital Who Can Be a Sexual Harasser? welcomed. Division of Human Capital The harasser may be a woman or a man. 4501 N. Fairfax Drive, Suite 2000 He or she can be the victim’s supervisor, How is Harassment Reported? Arlington, VA 22203 an agent of the employer, a supervisor Employees should report any 703-358-1743 in another area, a co-worker, or a non- harassment immediately to the Service’s employee. Office of Equal Opportunity and http://www.fws.gov/humancapital/ Diversity, Diversity and Civil Right, http://www.fws.gov/

May 2009

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