New York State Senate Policy to Prevent Discrimination and Harassment

 The New York State Senate is committed to providing and maintaining a work environment for all Senate Members and employees which is free from any form of harassment or discrimination based on race, age, creed, color, religion, gender, military status, sexual orientation, familial status, national origin,  predisposing genetic characteristics, or physical or mental disability, domestic violence victim status, or any other protected class by law. Discrimination or harassment based upon any of these characteristics is a form of misconduct that undermines the integrity of the employment relationship and will not be tolerated. Accordingly, such conduct is prohibited in the work environment, as well as each and every situation that directly impacts the work environment. As such, the Senate expressly prohibits any form of employee discrimination or harassment based on race, age, creed, color, religion, gender, military status, sexual orientation, familial status, national origin, predisposing genetic characteristics, or physical or mental disability, domestic violence victim status, or any other protected class by law. Improper interference with the ability of our employees to perform their expected job duties will not be tolerated. Senate Members and employees are expected to appropriately respond to and report any activity which they feel constitutes such conduct. Harassing conduct by anyone, whether in the Senate's offices, at work assignments outside the office, or at office-sponsored social functions, may be unlawful and will not be tolerated. This policy applies to all applicants, employees, persons involved in the operation of the New York State Senate, and prohibits unlawful or improper harassment, discrimination and retaliation whether engaged in by any Member, employee of the New York State Senate or someone not directly connected to the New York State Senate (e.g. outside vendors, consultants, etc.).

Definitions

 "Sexual Harassment" is unwelcome or unwanted sexual advances, requesting sexual favors, or any other verbal or physical conduct of a sexual nature when: 1.

 

Submission to such conduct is made explicitly or implicitly a term or condition of the person’s

employment; or 2.

 

Submission to or rejection of such conduct by an individual is used as a basis for employment decisions that affect such individual; or 3.

 

Such conduct has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an employee's work  performance or creating a work environment that is intimidating, hostile, offensive or coercive to a reasonable person. "Sexual harassment" is not limited to male-female interaction, is gender neutral and may involve individuals of the same or different gender.

 

 

The following is a partial list of examples of behavior which could be considered sexual harassment and is not exhaustive:

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Threats or insinuations, either explicit or implicit, that an individual's refusal to submit to, acquiesce in, or rejection of, sexual advances or sexual conduct will adversely affect his or her employment, evaluation, wages, advancement, assigned duties, benefits or any other aspect of employment or career advancement;

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Favoring any applicant or employee because that person has performed or shown a willingness to  perform sexual favors for a supervisor or manager;

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Unwelcome, profane or offensive jokes, language, epithets, advances or propositions, by any means of communication, including e-mail;

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Written or verbal abuse of a sexual nature or use of sexually degrading or sexually vulgar words to describe an individual;

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Display of sexually suggestive objects, images, posters or cartoons;

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Asking questions about sexual conduct or sexual relationships;

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Unwelcome touching, leering, whistling, brushing against the body, pinching or suggestive, insulting or obscene gestures or comments; and

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Assault or coerced sexual acts. "Other Unlawful Harassment" is defined as discrimination or harassment on the basis of race, age, creed, color, religion, gender, military status, sexual orientation, familial status, national origin, predisposing genetic characteristics, or physical or mental disability, domestic violence victim status or any other  protected class or characteristic, and is also prohibited. Such prohibited conduct includes communicating, sharing, or displaying written or visual material or making verbal comments or engaging in any other conduct which is demeaning or derogatory to a person  because of his or her race, age, creed, color, religion, gender, military status, sexual orientation, familial status, national origin, predisposing genetic characteristics, or physical or mental disability, domestic violence victim status that: i.

 

Has the purpose or effect of creating an intimidating, hostile or offensive work environment; ii.

 

Has the purpose or effect of unreasonably interfering with an individual’s work performance;

or iii.

 

Other 

wise adversely affects an individual’s employment opportunities.

 Examples of other unlawful harassment can include, but is not limited to:

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Distributing or saying epithets, slurs, jokes, remarks or negative stereotypes that are derogatory and/or demeaning

to an individual’s protected class; or

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Threatening, intimidating or hostile acts; or

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Displaying offensive materials in the workplace. The use of Senate facilities, property or equipment to disseminate, duplicate or display such materials is  prohibited.

Also, the claim that the alleged conduct “meant no harm” or was “just a joke” is not an excuse.

 

No Retaliation

The New York State Senate will not permit retaliation of any kind against anyone who complains about harassment, furnishes information or participates in any manner in any investigation of a harassment complaint. Such retaliation is unlawful and will not be tolerated. Any individual found to have

 

 

engaged in retaliation will be subject to disciplinary action, up to and including termination of employment. Employees who feel they are being subjected to retaliation as a result of their filing a complaint or cooperating in an investigation should immediately report such conduct to the Senate Personnel Officer.

Responsibility of Individual Employees

The New York State Senate encourages individuals who feel they are being, or have been, harassed to communicate to the offending party that such conduct is harassing and to ask that the conduct stop. However, you are not required to do so. If the individual is uncomfortable with making a direct approach to the offending party, or has done so but the offending conduct has not stopped, the individual may take the following actions to address and resolve the problem: 1. As soon as possible after the harassing conduct, go directly to his or her immediate supervisor, the immediate supervisor of the offender, the appropriate department head, or to his or her appointing authority. 2. If your complaint concerns any of the above-mentioned officials, or you are otherwise uncomfortable about making your report to any of these individuals, you may go to the Senate Personnel Officer, or the Secretary of the Senate.

Responsibility of Management and Supervisors

All employees, supervisors, department heads and appointing authorities are responsible for ensuring a harassment-free workplace, and ensuring that employees are aware of this policy on preventing harassment and discrimination. If any employee of the Senate witnesses or is notified of violations of this policy, he or she must give immediate attention to such violation by notifying his or her supervisor, department head, appointing authority, the Senate Personnel Officer, or the Secretary of the Senate. Failure of supervisors and/or management staff to report such conduct to their respective supervisor, Senate Personnel Officer, or Secretary of the Senate, may result in disciplinary action being taken.

Investigation Procedures

The policy of the New York State Senate is to investigate all complaints promptly and to take appropriate remedial action. An investigator may be designated by the Secretary of the Senate, in consultation with the Senate Personnel Officer, to carry out such responsibility. The investigator shall ask the individual complainant to provide details such as the identity of the alleged offender, the nature, date(s) and location(s) of the harassing conduct. Thereafter, the investigator shall meet individually with the alleged offender to inform him or her of the substance of the complaint, and to allow him or her to respond. If there is a significant dispute of fact, the investigator may give each party an opportunity to identify persons who can support or corroborate his or her version of the facts. The investigator may also investigate the matter further by contacting those other individuals whom the investigator feels may have additional information regarding the issues raised in the complaint. The matter in investigation will be handled with as much confidentiality as is possible under the circumstances, and with due regard to the rights and wishes of all parties. The investigator will report his or her investigation findings to the Senate Personnel Officer, who will then review the investigation findings. Upon review, the Senate Personnel Officer will determine, if the record warrants, whether